HOW DOES THE PROCESS WORK?
Below you will see outlined the twelve step journey explaining how to take on a tenancy with us here at Shepherd Neame. From the word go, you will have dedicated support from the Tenanted Recruitment & Onboarding Manager and your designated Business Development Manager, together they will see you smoothly through the recruitment process from your initial enquiry right through to opening the doors at your pub change day.
Step 1 – Your Pre Entry Training
Let's get started… The first thing to do is to research and obtain your Pre-Entry Awareness Training qualification (PEAT). Created by the BII, PEAT gives you the knowledge required to evaluate the agreement that you are considering and is a mandatory requirement for any new tenant or lessee who takes on an agreement in England or Wales with a pub company or brewery who is a member of the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA). PEAT is an essential part of the final interview process and it must be completed at least five days prior to your final stage tenancy interview with us here at the brewery, so the sooner you get it completed the better. You can find out more and sign up for PEAT here. Once you have completed PEAT your qualification does not expire and you will receive a PDF certificate that you will need to provide to the Brewery later in the recruitment process.
In order for you to operate a licensed premises, you must first take and pass your Award for Personal Licence Holders (APLH) exam, which can now be done either online or in a class room set up. Once you have done this, you then apply for your Personal Licence from the local authorities in which you reside and once approved, you can register to become the Designed Premises Supervisor (DPS) at your pub. Passing your APLH exam is also an important part of the recruitment process, so ideally you will already have it or you do it as soon as you can. Technically you do not have to pass your APLH prior to applying for or to being offered one of our pubs, but you will need to pass it before you can sign up and take on your tenancy with us. You can see more information at the BII website here and there are more details about how to obtain your personal licence later in this pack.
Step 2 - Register your interest
Now you are ready to find your perfect pub, please register your details with our Tenanted Recruitment & Onboarding Manager. You can start by either giving us a call or you can find all of our pubs currently on the market listed at our available tenancies page.
Once you have found a pub that you like the look of, you are able to apply directly for the specific pub that is of interest to you or if your perfect pub isn’t listed at the moment, you can ‘register your tenancy interest’ with us at our available tenancies page, either way, once we have your application form the Tenanted Recruitment & Onboarding Manager will give you a call to discuss what you are looking for and can keep in touch with you moving forward.
We run regular Tenancy Open Days at the Brewery that give you the opportunity meet us in person, register your details with us and to find out more about how our tenancies work. You can see more information about our open days at our website.
Step 3 – Searching and viewing our pubs
As previously mentioned, you can find all of our pubs currently on the market listed at our available pubs page. Here you can download the individual letting details for each pub which outline the rent and agreement details, pub specifics and the ingoing costs.
Once you have assessed the market and found a pub that you are interested in, before you visit we recommend that you give the Tenanted Recruitment & Onboarding Manager a call to find out a bit about the background and timings connected to the site. We then advise you to initially visit the pub discreetly as a customer and we recommend that you visit the site several times, even at different trading times throughout the day, just to get a good feel for the pub and its existing customer base.
Step 4 – Give us your feedback & conduct a formal pub viewing
Once you have identified your perfect pub and you have viewed it several times as a customer, you will then need to make contact with our Tenanted Recruitment & Onboarding Manager again. They will answer any questions that you may have and will arrange for you to conduct a formal viewing of your chosen site with the existing tenant to include the back of house trade areas and private accommodation. Once your formal viewing is complete, you have provided us with your feedback and you know that you are ready to progress, we will then pass your application form on to the appropriate Business Development Manager.
Step 5 – Meet your personal Business Development Manager (BDM)
Now it’s time to meet the Business Development Manager that is responsible for the recruitment of your chosen pub. The Tenanted Recruitment & Onboarding Manager will arrange your appointment for you and at this first stage, informal interview the BDM will talk through the business opportunity, the pub specifics, your past experience and cover off our bespoke interview checklist which tells you everything that you need to know about a tenancy with Shepherd Neame. The BDM will give you a thorough overview of the pub in question and all of the components of our tenancy agreements, allowing you to decide if you would like to continue with a formal application for the pub.
Step 6 – Business review and planning for your pub
Once you have met your BDM and you are confident that you would like to progress with a formal application, the next step is for you to prepare a full business review and a three year financial plan for the site. We will provide you with sales volumes, industry guidance for overhead figures and some basic advice on how the planning should be carried out. We will also provide you with templates for the business and finance plans and we can advise you of independent business/financial advisors to help during this process, as they will be required.
Once completed, you will need to send your business and finance plans to the Tenanted Recruitment & Onboarding Manager, they will then be passed on to the Business Development Manager to review and the BDM will give you a call with their feedback.
Step 7 – Your Second stage shortlist interview
Once your plans have been reviewed and assuming that you have been progressed to the next stage of the application process, you will then be invited in to the Brewery in Faversham for a formal interview with the Director of Tenanted Operations and your Business Development Manager. Here your plans will be discussed, stress tested and a final decision on the successful applicants will be reached. Don’t forget, you must have completed PEAT minimum five days before you can attend your formal second interview with us!
Step 8 – Your Offer….
If successful, you can look forward to receiving your formal Heads of Terms Offer Letter outlining all of your pub offer details, which needs to be signed and returned to us within seven working days. If you haven’t already done so, at this stage, we highly recommend that you seek independent business and financial advice on your plans.
Step 9 – Have you completed your training?
By now you will have passed your Pre-Entry Awareness Training Course (PEAT) and ideally you will have obtained your APLH (Award for Personal Licence Holders). If not, you will need to obtain your APLH qualification immediately before we can proceed to sign up.
Step 10 – Your Tenancy Sign Up
Now your pub offer is accepted and signed, the Tenanted Recruitment & Onboarding Manager will arrange you an appointment to come back to the Brewery and to conduct your Tenancy Sign Up with your Business Development Manager. The sign up is usually a two hour process and includes paying your deposits, completing all of the necessary admin and running through the 14 sections of your sign up pack. You will also get to meet some of our support team including the Tenancy Menu Development & Food Safety Manager, the Wine & Spirits Sales Development Manager and the Web Team. Once you have conducted your sign up, you will agree a pub change date (the date that you take over the pub) with the BDM and outgoing tenant.
Step 11 – Your Training Plan
All new Shepherd Neame tenants have a personalised induction and training plan set up with us, together we will agree how your induction programme will be scheduled and progress within your first three to six months of joining us. All new tenants must pass mandatory training courses to include a financial management course, Level 2 Food Safety in Catering and Level 2 Health and Safety in the Workplace. We also provide you with free access to an online training platform for you and your team in the longer term.
Step 12 – It is finally time to open your Pub!
Once all of the above is complete, you will finally be ready to open the doors to your very own pub and to welcome your customers, but don’t worry, once you are in, you are not on your own. Shepherd Neame provide ongoing support and training across all areas of your business, helping you to maximise the potential of your pub for the longer term. Your Business Development Manager remains a frequent visitor and will support you throughout your tenancy with Shepherd Neame.
We also have the following departments and team members that can provide you with free, additional support during both the setup and whilst you are running your pub:
• Tenanted Menu Development & Food Safety Manager ~ to assist you with your menu development, food offer, kitchen compliance and health & safety
• Wine & Spirits Sales Development Manager ~ to help you devise or tailor your bespoke wines & spirits lists for the pub
• Trade Quality Services support ~ to assist you with any quality issues or technical equipment questions that you may have
• The Property Helpdesk ~ always on hand for any property questions and support
• Customer Services Department ~ always on hand to answer any product ordering or delivery questions, no matter what the query
• Digital Marketing/Web Support ~ provide your personal website & social media support & set up
• Tenanted Recruitment & Onboarding Manager ~ can help to point you in the right direction with anything recruitment related
• Training Administrator ~ to book your training courses
• Tenanted Administrator (Food & Marketing) ~ to help design your in house food menus
• Tenanted Administrator (Licencing) ~ to support you with all your licencing queries
We hope that the above twelve steps give you a good overview of the tenancy application process with Shepherd Neame, together with an insight into the ongoing support available when you choose to run a pub with us. If you have any further questions please give the Tenanted Recruitment & Onboarding Manager a call at any time on 01795 542132.