Brakspear rewards six pubs with £2,000 prize

Oxfordshire-based pub company Brakspear has awarded six of its pubs £2,000 each to invest in their business after they were recognised in the first Brakspear Hospitality Awards.

The awards were made to the tenants who achieved the highest or most improved scores in the company's mystery customer scheme, introduced last year.

All the winners took up Brakspear's offer to double their money by investing it in their pub, rather than taking the £1,000 cash alternative.

The winners were:

Roni Dorn: Coachmakers Arms, Wallingford
Bill & Anne Newell: Chelmer Inn, Chelmer Village, Chelmsford
Seona MacKenzie: Clifton Arms, Caversham
Tony Read & Pat Thatcher: Flower Pot, Aston, Henley-on-Thames
Reid & Hattie Gutzman: Hope & Anchor, Wokingham
Ryan Simpson: Orwells, Shiplake, near Henley-on-Thames

Tom Davies, Brakspear chief executive, said: "It's a pleasure to be rewarding these outstanding tenants who excelled in their mystery visits. The mystery customer scheme has improved standards across our estate, with a 4.3% uplift in the average customer service score between first and second visit. It's a powerful business tool, giving our tenants regular, objective feedback on standards in their pub from the only people who really matter - the customers."

He added, "We were pleased that all our winners chose to invest in their pub. It would be easy for licensees to stop investment because of the recession, but those who spend wisely now will undoubtedly improve the customer's experience of their pub and see sales growth as a result." The winning tenants are spending on a variety of improvements, from garden redesigns to interior decoration and new kitchen equipment.

Brakspear is continuing to run the mystery customer programme during 2011. It is run by The Silent Customer, a company based, like Brakspear, in Henley-on-Thames.

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By Neil Gerrard

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