Best Tenanted/Leased Pub Company (up to 500 sites) winner: Fuller's

Fuller, Smith & Turner, a long established pub operator across London and the south east, fended off extremely stiff competition from Wells & Co and Marston’s Venture pub division, which saw them take the top title of Tenanted & Leased Pub Company of the Year 2023 (under 500 sites).

While the business was originally founded in 1845, there’s nothing old-fashioned about the company as it moves forward into the post-pandemic world.

Considerable change

Fuller’s has certainly been through considerable change, having sold off its iconic brewing operations to Asahi in 2019, and refocusing the business onto its pub operations.

That change has seen the company open up new headquarters not too far from its original brewery in Chiswick and implement some impressive new changes which saw them grab the top spot from some pretty impressive finalists.

A real focus on people before profits impressed the judges who were pleased to see the company focusing energy and time to ensure all areas of the estate were given attention and support.

Support levels

A restructuring of its BDM team has seen the introduction of new team members, which are able to focus in and deliver targeted digital and event support to give operators a real edge in an extremely competitive market.

Support levels across the board were described as impressive by the judges who felt the company was really going above and beyond to ensure operators were given every opportunity to succeed.

It was said the company was taking a genuine partnership approach to the tenanted and leased model and was putting its money where its mouth was to ensure that delivered.

This is a business that, despite its heritage and history, continues to innovate and move forward, blazing a trail for others to follow.