Punch re-launches tenants training programme
The pub company said it has reviewed and rebranded its training programme as ‘Punch Progress – Your training partner’ to promote the company’s wider training offer and “sell the vital importance of training” in an industry that attracts a wide range of people with different skills and areas of knowledge.
It said high business failure rates across the sector are often linked to the way new licensees underestimate the expertise they will need to run a successful pub in today’s market.
It added that research carried out among its tenants found that 90% think on-going training for themselves and their staff is important to their pub business, while 85% directly attribute enhanced business performance to training.
'Completely free'
Punch said following feedback the programme is completely free, clearly signposted, flexible, and split into four modules:
- ‘Set Up’ - an intensive one-week foundation course, covering the core information, business skills and compliance requirements a new licensee needs to kick-start their business
- ‘Support’ – six months of training for licensees and their teams
- ‘Advance’ – tailored training for more experienced licensees and their teams, including e-learning packages, residential courses, one-on-one sessions and presentations
- ‘Accelerate’ – focusing on improving profitability, with webinar sessions and ‘best-in-class’ workshops designed to help tenants make the most of their business opportunities
Punch said it also provides training toolkits for licensees to use with staff and it is promoting the new BIIAB Level 2 Apprenticeship in Licensed Hospitality with a £1,500 award for every new apprentice in the 16-24-year age group.
Human resources director Jackie Burn said: “The re-launch represents a major commitment of time and resources for Punch Taverns. We developed the project because we had a strong message to send, as these days training isn’t just a forced one-off-activity for new licensees or a last resort for businesses in trouble – it’s essential to business success.
“By offering the right high-quality training, the lion’s share of it free, we are investing in the future of our licensees’ businesses, at the same time as strengthening our own. We see the Punch Progress programme as an innovative best practice model for the whole pub sector.”
