The Pubs Code Adjudicator (PCA) has issued the results of this year's Annual Tied Tenants Survey, which highlight tenant sentiment towards, and their relationships with, the UK's big six tied pub companies: Admiral, Greene King, Marston's, Punch, Star Pubs & Bars, and Stonegate.
The survey gathered the opinions of 1,203 tied pub tenants, who were interviewed about their views on a range of important topics. The Pubs Code provides these tenants with important protections to ensure transparency in their business relationship with their pub company, and the PCA seeks to understand through this survey their overall satisfaction in that relationship and to look in depth at a variety of key areas.
Out of the 1,203 tenants interviewed, it was revealed that 63% were satisfied with their tenant relationship, whilst 21% were dissatisfied. Overall pub company satisfaction has remained stable except for pub chain Star, which has improved tenant satisfaction by 9 points since 2023.
Those surveyed listed the following as some of the reasons for their satisfaction: good communication and the relationship with the Business Development Manager or area manager, listening and responding to issues quickly, providing information, being fair and transparent, giving freedom and being supportive during the cost-of-living crisis.
However, the following issues were flagged as some reasons for dissatisfaction: a lack of support or a one-sided relationship, little to no contact with the Business Development Manager, slow repairs or disputes with repairs and dilapidations schedules, issues with deliveries and a lack of transparency and communication around changes.
Marston's, Admiral and Greene King had the highest overall satisfaction at 79%, 78% and 77% respectively, whereas Stonegate tenants were the least satisfied at 47%. Information given to new tenants at Marston's, Admiral and Greene King was revealed as the most useful compared to the that of the other pub companies, with Stonegate tenants finding the information least useful.
With regards to satisfaction with the tenancy agreement type, 68% were satisfied and 17% were dissatisfied, which is an improvement year on year. The reasons given for satisfaction include: the terms of the agreement are fair and transparent, there is good negotiation on rent or repairs, and investment in the pub. Marston's tenants are the most satisfied with their agreement at 83%, closely followed by Admiral on 79% and Greene King on 75%.
The survey also looked at the awareness of the Pubs Code, which remained unchanged at 78% and awareness of the Pubs Code Adjudicator, who enforces the Code, was also unchanged at 55%.
Trust in the independence of the Pubs Code Adjudicator has improved this year, particularly in terms of being independent from the pub companies (64% trust, an increase of 7 points from 2023) and familiarity with the rights has remained consistent since last year.
Commenting on the survey findings, Fiona Dickie, the Pubs Code Adjudicator, who enforces the Pubs Code, said: "It is great to see evidence that trust in the Pub Code's independence has improved this year, especially in terms of being independent from pub companies themselves and that awareness is at similar levels to last year.
"These results inform our regulatory work, and it is important for the industry to see these pub company comparisons. The highest overall satisfaction results from Marston's, Admiral and Greene King set a standard pub companies should be seeking to attain and exceed. The results give valuable information for the industry, and this annual survey seeks to drive improvements across the board."
To summarise, almost 8 in 10 tenants are aware of the Pubs Code and a majority of tenants are aware of the Pubs Code Adjudicator. Just over 6 in 10 tenants are satisfied with the relationship with their pub company, with tenants of Marston's, Admiral and Greene King the most satisfied. Positive relationships are typified by transparent, open business relationships and strong business support.
The Pubs Code Adjudicator, Fiona Dickie, will continue to work closely with the six largest pub companies, as well as their tenants, to help establish fair relationships across the board. The PCA will also ensure that all parties have adequate support and the requisite information they need to perform at the peak of their abilities to drive equality in the tied tenancy pub sector.
The full survey results can be accessed here.
About the research:
The survey was carried out by independent research company Ipsos which interviewed 1,203 tenants by phone between Jan 09 and 13 March, 2024.
Tenants invited to take part in the survey were independently selected at random by Ipsos based on pub names and addresses supplied by pub companies. Data were weighted to ensure sample was representative of the regulated tied tenant universe by pub company estate size and region within.
