Marston’s: improving oversight and reducing risk across a national pub estate

Marston’s is one of the UK’s leading local pub operators, managing over 1,300 pubs nationwide. With a large proportion of the estate run by independent pub partners, maintaining clear and consistent oversight of insurance arrangements is both essential and inherently complex.

The challenge

Operating at this scale, with a mix of tenanted and leased arrangements, creates unavoidable challenges. While partners and tenants are responsible for arranging their own insurance, the Group retains a clear interest in ensuring appropriate cover is in place across the estate.

This can lead to several issues:

• Limited visibility of insurance arrangements across sites

• Variations in the level and quality of cover

• Potential exposure to vicarious liability where cover is insufficient

• Difficulty maintaining consistent standards across a large, distributed estate

Public liability risks, such as slips, trips and accidents on site, are a particular concern. Without structured oversight, it can be difficult to maintain confidence that every location meets the required standards.

Moving to a more structured approach

To address these challenges, Marston’s introduced a more structured approach to insurance oversight across its estate.

This focused on creating a clear, centralised view of cover across all sites, alongside a consistent process for reviewing policies and maintaining standards over time.

The approach was supported through Pub Protect, delivered by Tribe, and underpinned by a central Risk Register. This enabled a practical, ongoing process to gather and maintain accurate records of insurance cover across the estate.

What this enabled

By moving to a more structured model, Marston’s was able to:

• Review policies for suitability and identify potential gaps

• Support partners and tenants in putting appropriate cover in place

• Maintain clear, regular visibility of insurance compliance across the estate

• Reduce the administrative burden on internal teams through centralised management

This is not a one-off exercise, but an embedded framework designed to support long-term governance and risk management.

The impact

This approach has helped Marston’s maintain a more consistent standard of insurance across its estate and reduce uncertainty around potential exposure.

By focusing on early identification, regular oversight and tenant support, the Group has reduced the likelihood of uninsured or underinsured claims and strengthened its overall risk position.

What was previously a resource-intensive and reactive process is now a structured and manageable part of day-to-day operations.

A model that supports both the Group and its tenants

A combination of structured processes, sector expertise and tools such as a centralised risk register has enabled a more proactive approach to managing insurance across the estate.

In Marston’s case, this is delivered in partnership with Tribe, providing both the Group and its tenants with greater clarity, support and confidence.