Our Pub Heroes are the enthusiastic entrepreneurs running their own businesses within Punch pubs and bringing theirs and our collective sustainability commitments to life.
They turn good intentions into genuine action: in their pubs and at the heart of their communities while delighting every guest.
Since we started in January 2024, the group has grown to over 35 members.
They meet regularly around the UK to share ideas, celebrate what’s working, learn from challenges, and inspire positive change.
They help shape our People, Planet and Pubs priorities. They are, by name and nature, Pub Heroes.
• They have selected two areas of focus under each of our People, Planet, Pubs pillars (see below).
• Their feedback has helped to shape our sustainability strategy.
• They inspire with replicable events and case studies on a range of initiatives, from waste reduction to wellbeing.
• They have helped us to shape Punch’s new brand values, which inspire those moments.
• They collaborate directly with our strategic partners, such as Only A Pavement Away.
• They have connected with our Push the Pineapple People Volunteers, sharing ideas, insights and inspiring those moments. Thanks to them, we will now launch Mental Health First Aider Training for our Publicans and Management Partners.
But it’s not just the incredible hospitality professionals running our pubs who are making incredible headway.
We are right by their sides in partnership ensuring that we learn from them and seek to provide the investment, time, resources, training, skills, and tools to empower them to protect our People and Planet. But how do we do that?
We’ve launched a new food sustainability plan to help us do better with the food we serve.
It focuses on clear targets to reduce food waste, improve nutrition, manage allergens, and offer more plant-based choices.
Why does this matter? Because delighting every guest means offering food that’s not just tasty, but also healthier and more sustainable for the future.
We put our money where our mouths are. How? We’ve invested £240 million in our pubs over the last five years.
This investment has helped us create unique spaces, from the cave booths at the Tempest in Brighton to the refreshed Lord Roberts in Nottingham (pictured) and its downstairs bar and cabaret, Prohibition.
Why? To live and breathe our values of doing well, by doing good, thriving together, having pride in our stride, and delighting every guest. Just look at the beautiful Excelsior pub investment depicted.
(Laine’s executive development programme) and Progress with Punch are creating the hospitality stars of the future.
Meanwhile, GULP and Thirst’s gamified learning modules are ensuring Laine and Punch’s respective MPs, Publicans and teams have the skills they need now to deliver safe, compliant, and industry-leading guest experiences.
From charity bike rides and festivals to raffles and Jamaican Independence Day celebrations, the ‘Grand Idea’ event competition in which pubs can win £1,000 for their fundraising, charity and transferable events shows the breadth and impact of volunteering and fundraising in Punch’s community pubs.
But, we know we still have so much more to do to progress towards realising our aim of becoming THE 5 Star Pub Company. Watch this space.