Proper Pubs, the operator managed platform of Hawthorn, The Community Pub Company, has come out on top in the latest iteration of KAM Media’s Operator Managed Index (OMI).
Proper Pubs outperformed the other nationwide managed pub companies surveyed, in 49 of the 59 categories, with an overall satisfaction score across all levels of 8.2/10, compared to a sector average of 7.9.
The Proper Pubs brand was launched in August 2021. Consisting of around 20% of the Hawthorn estate, Proper Pubs are wet-led community pubs, focused on providing a great range of drinks at good value prices, with entertainment offerings for the whole community.
Over the last few years, Hawthorn has developed a well-established, successful and scalable Operator-Managed division, including a number of successful conversions from the Leased and Tenanted model using clear site selection criteria, and supported by a significant CAPEX programme. Proper Pubs is run by Director – Proper Pubs, Mark Brooke, who joined Hawthorn in 2020, having previously been responsible for growing Beacon in the Ei Group from 165 pubs to 300 pubs, operating in the wet-led, value-driven market.
In the OMI survey, satisfaction levels amongst Proper Pubs operators improved across the board from 2021 to 2022, and amongst the areas that Proper Pubs outperformed its competitors were marketing support, the recruitment process and pre-entry training, drinks pricing, support from BDMs, capturing guest feedback, and overall pubco rating, which increased from 7.5/10 in 2021, to 8.4/10 this year.
Mark Brooke, Director – Proper Pubs, said: “These results are a ringing endorsement of what we set out to do when we developed the Proper Pubs platform. We’ve been able to build on the strong foundations of the original Hawthorn Operator Managed model, and provide better support than ever for our operators. People are at the heart of everything we do, and the Proper Pubs brand is all about giving our Operators the freedom and confidence to support their customers and their local community in whatever way they see fit, and make their pub a place where the whole community feels welcome.”
50 Proper Pubs operators were interviewed in January and February 2022 as part of KAM Media’s research. A total of 200 telephone interviews were conducted with the named operator of the pub, with samples sizes of each company determined as a ratio of their relevant share, in terms of number of outlets, of all UK operator managed pubs.
