Tenant/pub company relations have improved over the past year, according to MCA’s authoritative Tenant Track survey.
The poll, now in its seventh year, shows the share of tenants saying the relationship with their pub company has improved now stands at 22.4%, up from 21.9% in 2017.
The average of all 1-10 ratings is also up year-on-year, as is the average for pub company overall ratings.
St Austell once again topped the list with an overall score of 8.73 and an average of all ratings at 8.36. Admiral Taverns retained its position as the leading national pub company with scores of 7.83 and 7.39 respectively.
Steve Worrall, St Austell’s retail director, said: “We are delighted to have come out top in the latest Tenant Track survey and to have again increased our scores from last time. We continue to roll out initiatives that have worked well in our managed estate such as free mystery customer visits and look to provide the best support possible to tenants and their teams with customer service training to help promote best retail practices.
“Where appropriate, we have also stepped up smaller capital investments with our tenants, including beer garden and bedroom schemes to help drive business while our Business Development Managers have increased their focus on providing practical business support, especially for those in their first year of trading.”
The Tenant Track findings show evidence of polarisation among tenants, with newer publicans considerably happier. Publicans that have been at their current pub for less than six months give their pub company an overall rating of 8.3 on average, compared with 7.3 for those who have been at the pub for 1-2 years and 6.7 for those who have been there for 3+ years. Newer tenants are also more likely to feel the relationship with their pub company has improved over the last year.
Drilling into the reasons for taking on a pub, the survey shows 44% are running a pub in order to build a profitable business, compared with 34% in 2017. The share of food of pub sales has not increased year-on-year, accounting for 23.4% in 2018 compared with 23.7% in 2017, showing that the growing optimism in profitability is not being driven by food, but the improving performance of wet-led businesses.
Wadworth has seen the biggest improvement, with average ratings up 12.2%, followed by Ei Group, with an increase of 8.6% and Star, up 5.8%. When asked to rate their pub company overall, Star, Ei and Punch have seen the biggest gains, of 9%, 8% and 6% respectively.
The rating for overall quality of BDMs has increased year-on-year, from 7.4 to 7.5. St Austell has the highest rated BDMs overall, with an impressive 9.2.
However, the data shows that drinks ordering & deliveries need scrutiny. The process has traditionally been highly rated in Tenant Track, but in 2018 it is one of the few areas where the average ratings have decreased.
