JW Lees introduces 10-point tenants' pledge

JW Lees, the Manchester-based brewer, has created a 10-point pledge to its tenants after a survey highlighted several areas for improvement.

The brewer, which conducted the survey through consultants Elliott Marketing, found that of the 90 or so pubs which replied some 83 per cent 'strongly agreed' that they had a good relationship with their area manager.

However the survey highlighted areas of the business which tenants were unhappy with, including a slow response from head office to their enquiries; slow and inconsistent responses from the brewer's Pub Support department; insufficient support from its marketing department; inconsistent beer quality, and high wholesale prices.

JW Lees said it was introducing the pledge to tenants in order to address the issues raised in the survey.

Mark Welch, JW Lees' director of pub operations, said the results of the first poll of its tenants had proved invaluable in highlighting the brewer's areas of strength and its weaknesses.

"We are committed to supporting our tenants to ensure they succeed and our 10 point 'Tenants' Pledges' is just the first step in our ongoing commitment.

"The views of our tenants are invaluable to us and we intend to repeat this exercise in autumn 2011 to see how we have performed against the issues raised," he said.

The pledge includes a cash-back scheme on all draught sales, meaning a tenant could earn £100 per barrel sold over agreed targets; a portal on the brewer's website exclusive to tenants to help with marketing and personnel issues; a starter pack for new entrants to the business; regular visits from area managers plus monthly business review meetings, plus follow up calls to tenants after repair and maintenance work has been carried out to ensure the work is of a sufficiently high standard.

The brewer said it would also look at how it could develop and improve customer service emanating out of its Manchester head office.