Punch results, October 2026: 96 more pubs moved to Pub Partnerships, and the sum to run if yours is next

Punch Pubs published its full-year results on 23 October 2026. Revenue up 11.8% to £377.8m, underlying EBITDA up 8.1% to £106.4m, 74 pubs bought, and 96 pubs moved out of leased and tenanted into its Pub Partnerships model, against 36 the year before. If you're a Punch tenant, that last number is the one to read. A partnership isn't a tenancy, and the Pubs Code regulator has said it won't currently enforce the Code on percentage-of-sales deals like it. The rights you lean on as a tied tenant don't come with you.

The numbers

Punch Pubs, 52 weeks to 9 August 2026

Measure	This year	Last year
Revenue	£377.8m	£337.9m
Underlying EBITDA	£106.4m	£98.4m
Profit	£15.1m	£28.3m loss
Pubs bought	74 (30 from McMullen's)	35
Moved from leased and tenanted to Pub Partnerships	96	36
Spent on the pubs	£68.2m (£56m existing estate, £12.2m new ones)
Estate at year end	1,327 pubs, 98% open

Punch spent £55.1m on acquisitions, roughly £745,000 a pub on my division, has agreed another 12 for £12.8m since the year end, and ran 13% ahead on underlying EBITDA in the first eight weeks of this year. Andy Spencer called the acquisition strategy "gathering pace". They're buying, and buying to run the pubs their way.

What Pub Partnerships actually is

Punch's own recruitment page spells it out. As a management partner you get an agreed percentage of sales "to pay you and your team", with what it calls an industry-leading 2% bonus. The living accommodation comes with its bills and maintenance paid. Punch supplies all the food and drink, the menus, the EPOS and the marketing. The Morning Advertiser describes the partners as self-employed, with Punch keeping greater control over the retail offer.

Put plainly: no rent, no ingoing, no tied price list, no buying stock. Punch takes the takings and pays you a slice. For somebody with no capital that's a fair way in. It's just a different animal from a tenancy.

Why the Pubs Code barely reaches it

In March 2025 the Pubs Code Adjudicator looked at what the trade calls operator, manchise or hybrid agreements, where the pub company takes a share of profit or turnover instead of rent. The PCA said some of them may well count as tied pubs under the Code, and that there's no exemption for them. Then it said that because no rent is payable it's hard to see how most of the Code could apply, that it doesn't currently think it appropriate to require compliance, and that it won't take action, though it's keeping it under review.

Think about what that switches off. The 21-day window after a significant tied price rise. The Market Rent Only option. The rent assessment. Every one of them is built around rent and a tie, and a partnership has neither.

For context, the PCA's 2026 survey of tied tenants put Punch at 55% satisfied, down from 61% in both 2024 and 2025. Admiral topped it at 72% and Stonegate was bottom at 39%. That survey covers tenants, not partners, so it says nothing either way about how the partnerships feel from the inside. And don't mix this up with Stonegate's Pub Partners, which is Stonegate's leased and tenanted arm and moved the other way, from managed to tenanted.

The sum to run before you sign a partnership

The percentage has to pay your staff before it pays you. So the first number isn't the percentage, it's your wage bill as a share of net sales. Here's one worked through. It's my arithmetic on round numbers, not Punch's terms, which aren't published.

A pub taking £6,000 a week net of VAT, open 70 hours, about 1.5 staff on the floor on average

Line	A week
Staff hours: 105 at the £12.71 National Living Wage	£1,334.55 (22.2% of sales)
Add roughly 12% for holiday pay	about £1,496 (24.9% of sales)
Left for you on a 25% deal	about £4
Left for you on a 30% deal	about £304
Left for you on a 35% deal	about £604

That's before employer's National Insurance, pension and the bonus, for 70 hours of your own time. Every five points on a £6,000 week is £300 a week in your pocket. Do this with your real rota before the conversation, not after.

Questions I'd want answered in writing

• Percentage of what? Net of VAT, before or after discounts and comps, and what the 2% bonus is measured on.
• Who carries stock loss? Punch owns the stock, so its stocktake is how it checks you. Ask whether a shortfall comes off your percentage, and ask to see every stocktake report. The page doesn't say, so get it in the agreement. If a figure ever looks wrong, my stocktake chargeback guide covers how to challenge one.
• Who employs the team? If the percentage pays "you and your team", the team looks like yours to employ, and the employment law changes landing on 30 October and 1 January land on you. They're in today's employment law guide.
• Are you really self-employed? Run your own situation through HMRC's employment status tool and keep the answer.
• What happens at the end? Notice period, the flat, and what happens if Punch sells the pub.

My take

The results are strong, and the partnership model is clearly working for Punch: more control of the offer and the whole till. For a publican it can be a decent deal, no ingoing, no rent, a roof with the bills paid. But it's a job paid on a percentage, not a business you can sell, and the regulator has stepped back from it for now. If your pub could be one of next year's transfers, do the wage sum this week while you still have the choice.

Common questions

What were Punch Pubs' full-year results for 2026?

For the 52 weeks to 9 August 2026, Punch reported revenue up 11.8% to £377.8m, underlying EBITDA up 8.1% to £106.4m and a £15.1m profit against a £28.3m loss the year before. It bought 74 pubs and moved 96 pubs from leased and tenanted into its Pub Partnerships model.

What is Punch Pub Partnerships?

It's Punch's management partnership model. Instead of paying rent and buying tied stock, the partner runs the pub for an agreed percentage of sales that pays them and their team, plus a bonus, with accommodation and bills included and Punch supplying the food, drink, EPOS and marketing.

Does the Pubs Code apply to management partnership agreements?

The Pubs Code Adjudicator said in March 2025 that some profit or turnover share agreements may fall within the Code, but because no rent is payable most of it is hard to apply, and it does not currently intend to require compliance or take action on them. In practice the MRO and rent assessment rights don't help a partner.

Is a 25% of sales management deal worth it?

It depends on your wage bill. On a £6,000 a week pub needing about 105 staff hours at £12.71, wages plus holiday pay come to roughly 25% of sales, leaving almost nothing for the partner. Work out your own wage bill as a percentage of net sales before comparing offers.

Who pays for stock losses in a pub partnership?

It depends on the agreement, and Punch's published page doesn't say. Ask in writing whether a stocktake shortfall is deducted from your percentage and insist on seeing every stocktake report.