Caterer and Hotelkeeper 100: Ted Tuppen, Enterprise Inns
Overall ranking: 86 (ranked 64 in 2010)
Pub ranking: 8 (ranked 6 in 2010)
Ted Tuppen: Snapshot
Ted Tuppen is chief executive of Enterprise Inns, the UK's second largest pub operator, with an estate of more than 7,000 leased and tenanted pubs. Having founded the business in 1991 and presided over its expansion through a series of acquisitions, he now finds himself taking the industry lead in defence of the tied pub model.
In the six months to 31 March 2011, the company reported profit before tax and exceptional items of £74m on EBITDA of £179m.
Ted Tuppen: Career guide
Ted Tuppen was born in 1952 and trained as a chartered accountant. He worked with accountants KPMG in London, North America and Europe and, after gaining an MBA from the Cranfield School of Management, became managing director of a privately owned engineering company.
Tuppen moved into the pub sector in 1991, when he led the management buy-in of 372 pubs from Bass that marked the birth of Enterprise Inns. He is a former chairman of the British Beer & Pub Association and was appointed CBE in the 2006 New Year Honours list for services to the hospitality industry.
Ted Tuppen: What we think
When all eyes are on you, there's plenty to be said for focusing on the fundamentals. The past year has seen Ted Tuppen steer a steady course through the choppy waters of City and political scrutiny.
In response to a well-run lobbying campaign on behalf of a group of disgruntled tenants and lessees, in 2009 the Commons Business and Enterprise Committee launched an investigation into the tied pub sector. Inevitably many of those complaining ran pubs owned by Enterprise Inns and Punch Taverns, since between them the two own more than 25% of the nation's pubs and around 40% of leased and tenanted outlets.
Tuppen and other pubco bosses were criticised for giving evidence in defence that according to the BEC report "proved to give a partial picture". At the same time, the downturn in the economy hit the tenanted pub market hard, with many outlets closing and many more trading in the margins, hitting Enterprise Inns' revenue hard.
Tuppen's response has been straight out of the financial management textbook. Debt is being reduced through the sale of pubs identified as no longer viable to the business, which will eventually reduce the size of the estate by at least 500 pubs. A sale and leaseback programme has enabled Enterprise to retain the revenue from some better performing pubs, while boosting the balance sheet by selling the freeholds to other investors.
In line with the new Code of Practice, there are stricter controls over recruitment in place. This includes additional pre-entry training and business planning requirements before a publican can formally sign up for a pub, as well as stricter controls in respect of lease assignments by existing publicans.
"These are having a positive impact on the quality and qualifications of our publicans," says Tuppen. While no-one would suggest the pub trade's challenges are over, under Tuppen Enterprise Inns is helping it reshape the relationship between pub owners and licensees.
Ted Tuppen's ranking in the 2010 Caterersearch.com 100 >>
Enterprise Inns shifts focus to earnings >>
