Sunday Times names Punch Taverns as 'One To Watch'

15-Mar-2010 - Last updated on 28-Aug-2011 at 08:40 GMT

Punch Taverns has been named as 'One To Watch' in a Sunday Times company survey. The newspaper's accolade for the UK's largest pub operator comes in...

Punch Taverns has been named as 'One To Watch' in a Sunday Times company survey.

The newspaper's accolade for the UK's largest pub operator comes in its 'Best 100 Companies To Work For' survey, which measures an organisation's performance in the workplace and its commitment to its staff.

Punch said its overall response rate was 12 per cent higher than the average for all big companies and 20 points short of being given a star accreditation by Best Companies.

As well as being labelled a company to keep an eye on, Punch also featured in the newspaper's 'Top 25 Big Companies', placing 11th in the 'Well-being' category, 14th for 'My manager' and 15th for 'My Team'.

Karen Caddick, Punch's human resources director, said the group was "really proud" of the achievement and particularly encouraged to be so close to achieving star accreditation.

"We are absolutely committed to the development and wellbeing of our teams and creating an environment in which they can thrive.

"We actively encourage our employees to maintain a healthy work / life balance and hold regular listening groups with a wide range of employees to try and understand the real issues affecting them."

Caddick said Punch had a dedicated 'After Hours' team who organised subsidised social activities, "while teams are also encouraged to nominate any local causes to receive donations for charitable support".

Karen adds: "The survey results have highlighted some areas that we will be focusing on over the coming months. We'll also be following up with our own Employee Engagement Survey in May to drill down into some of the key themes, and gain an in-depth insight into the real areas of importance for our people."

Meanwhile, Punch was due in court today to answer claims it provided false barrelage information to incoming tenants at one of its pubs.

Commenting on the case, involving the Robin Hood pub in Sherwood, Nottingham, a spokeswoman for Punch said the pubco was "confident that the judicial system will resolve this issue".