People - Punch Pubs

PUSH THE PINEAPPLE IN OUR PEOPLE’S WORDS

To realise the People Pillar of our sustainability strategy, our volunteers have created a grassroots movement called Push the Pineapple (PTP).

Why? To nurture our collective health and wellbeing and to live and breathe our purpose of inspiring those moments.

BUT WHAT NEED DOES PUSH THE PINEAPPLE SERVE?

It’s Punch culture in action. It’s real. It’s human. And it’s led by our people.

This is a grassroots movement, created by colleagues, for colleagues. Why? Because being people‑first isn’t just something we say. It’s something we do.

Since the group began in 2022, every meaningful step has started the same way: with someone sharing a personal story about why wellbeing matters to them. That courage is where change begins.

One powerful moment came when our then Operations Manager, Becky Davies, spoke openly on our live Huddle about her experience of menopause. It was the first time we’d shared such a personal wellbeing story at Punch, and it truly mattered.

Becky spoke with honesty and determination. She wanted to be heard. She wanted others to feel seen. And she wanted to make sure people going through menopause had the support they deserve.

Her bravery sparked real change.

The result? The Menovist Movement, and four inspiring, industry‑wide wellbeing events hosted at our Head Office.

AND WHY PUSH THE PINEAPPLE?
Well, quite simply our icon is a Pineapple which is a sign of amazing service in hospitality and this movement pushes us to be better every day.

HOW IT WORKS

Seven volunteer-led teams support health and wellbeing across mental, physical, women’s, men’s, financial and social areas, as well as Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion.

Each team helps deliver a key company goal linked to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Teams can also focus on issues that matter most to them.

By trusting our people to lead on our wellbeing work, we’ve created a strong, positive culture that brings genuine change. It’s raw, visceral, and so very us.

HOW DO WE MEASURE THE SUCCESS OF OUR WELLBEING INITIATIVES?

NURTURING OUR COLLECTIVE WELLBEING

In 2024, we achieved Mind Gold for the second consecutive year.

The Licensed Trade Charity (LTC) also shortlisted us for the Staff Wellbeing Award for 251+ sites, having won the previous year.

We also achieved the LTC Champion award for the first time, which bolstered our value of having pride in our stride.

CREATING COMMUNITIES THAT THRIVE TOGETHER

In 2025, Springboard crowned us winners of their Staff Health and Wellbeing Award.

That same year, we were also proud to receive the PubAid Corporate Community Hero Award.

ENSURING NO MIND IS LEFT BEHIND

In 2024, we teamed up with Mind to offer 12 weeks of free Mind Makeover mental health sessions to our Punch people. We expected 10% sign up, but over one in five colleagues took part. The feedback spoke volumes.

People described the sessions as “invaluable,” said they created a “safe space to be open,” and reminded us that small steps really do make a significant difference.

We also ran three fully booked tailored pub sessions on mental health, rated “excellent” and “highly recommended.”

CLOSING THE GENDER PAY GAP

Our overall gender pay gap continues to decrease year on year.

In 2024, women held 35% of senior leadership roles within Punch Pubs & Co. As of 2025, we have seen a steady improvement, increasing female representation to 41%.

This progress reflects our ongoing commitment to advancing gender diversity and creating a more inclusive leadership team. But we recognise we still have work to do. We continue to conduct a thorough pay benchmarking review for all roles across our business annually and are confident that within roles, we do not have any pay disparity.

Find out more about our gender pay reporting.

SUPPORTING PEOPLE THROUGH MENOPAUSE

In 2023, we ran our second Menovist event to help people understand menopause and feel more confident talking about it.

In 2024, it became a powerful two-day event for both men and women, covering health and wellbeing.

We heard from inspiring speakers and took part in engaging, practical sessions. We expected around 80 people to join, but over 100 industry and pub peers attended across both days: showing just how important this conversation is.

MOVING TO KEEP PHYSICALLY HEALTHY

In 2024, we joined the Springboard Virtual Race to Cambodia to get people moving and support physical wellbeing. Over 30 colleagues took part and together we covered 8,266 miles, finishing 10th and 12th out of 19 teams.

In 2025, we raced again, this time virtually to Australia. Our two teams walked, ran, swam, rowed, and cycled thousands of miles and raised £572 for Springboard, helping support training and careers in hospitality.

We also fundraise for Only a Pavement Away and the Licensed Trade Charity each year, through a variety of initiatives including Hospitality Rides and Pedalling To Pubs.

PROTECTING OUR INCLUSIVE CULTURE

In 2025, our Executive Team took part in our first Speakeasy Respect Charter session.

Created by our People Team and Push the Pineapple volunteers, these interactive sessions create a safe space for people to talk about and explore their differences respectfully and learn from one another.

In an increasingly polarised social and political context, sessions like this have never been so important.

The feedback? Glowing.

LISTENING TO OUR PEOPLE AND TAKING ACTION

Our success isn’t solely about awards. What really matters is how our people feel.

Our Peakon engagement survey in May 2025 had a 94% response rate across the business. The results were strong in key areas that matter most to our teams:

• Fit (Meaningful Work): 8.9 (+0.9 above benchmark)
• Significance (Meaningful Work): 9.2 (+0.8 above benchmark)
• Friends (Peer Relationships): 9.1 (+0.9 above benchmark)
• These scores reflect the positive culture and strong team dynamics our employees consistently highlight.
These results reflect a positive culture and strong teamwork.

Peakon’s new comment summaries also gave us even deeper insight. People wrote about:

• A superb team culture and supportive colleagues
• Appreciation for autonomy and work-life balance
• Recognition and growth opportunities
• Positive relationships with line managers

We’re making meaningful change in response to feedback and monitoring the results.