Punch, one of the UK’s leading pub companies, has celebrated the success of its Publicans at the latest graduation ceremony for its unique training programme - Art of the Possible.
The scheme was introduced to help Punch Publicans increase the profitability of their pubs and develop valuable skills to run their business. To date, Art of the Possible has seen 28 pubs graduate the programme and is set to commence its fourth round of workshops.
Training entails one full day of workshops each month for four months, during which Publicans learn about customer service, running and growing a profitable business by following market trends and how to hire, train and retain staff. Additionally, Punch organises for each Publican to have a mystery dining visit to assess how the Publicans are performing at each stage of the guest experience.
Punch recognised the hard work of its Publicans at a graduation dinner for Punch’s North East Art of the Possible awards night on 28th March held at Holly Hill in Richmond, with participants receiving a certificate in recognition of their efforts. Punch also calculated who has the highest average rating in the mystery dining aspect of the training, with these Publicans receiving an accolade for their premium guest experience.
Mike Staniforth, Punch Publican at Risley Park pub and Art of the Possible graduate, said: “For me, Art of the Possible was an invaluable refresher course. It gave me enough information to reflect and revaluate the structure of my business, my managers also attended the course, and they have found it hugely helpful.
“It was great to bring Publicans with all different levels of experience and different backgrounds together to share ideas and practices. Since the course, my managers have taken on extra responsibilities and orchestrated staff duties, they are inputting ideas regarding upsizing and upgrading to premium products – it has led to a better working environment!”
Duncan Garrood, CEO at Punch, said, “This is a great opportunity for our Publicans to learn about how to make their pubs more profitable and successful businesses. It has a huge emphasis on customer experience, which we believe is the backbone of a great pub. We urge any of our Publicans who are looking to train and develop, as well as improve their in-pub experience, to reap the benefits of the Art of the Possible programme.”