With the growth of social networking and hand held devices, Punch Partnerships has joined forces with, The Cloud, Europe’s largest independent provider of mobile WiFi broadband, to enable Punch licensees to provide secure, commercial Wi-Fi to their customers for free.
Following a trial, Punch is now rolling out the Coffee and Wi-Fi package to its 7300 strong leased estate and over 140 licensees have signed up to date.
Punch’s operations director, Kevin Georgel, explains: “We are acutely aware of the need for our licensees to keep up to speed with leading edge technology. With so many cafés and restaurants now offering free Wi-Fi as standard, there is a definite opportunity for pubs to tap into this lucrative market.”
Kevin continues: “It was at our innovation forum, where our very own ‘dragons’ assess the value and viability of various services for our licensees, that this idea emerged. The biggest appeal of utilising The Cloud’s services is the extent of their network and the fact that licensees can very simply and cheaply provide high quality, completely secure mobile, free broadband to their customers. ”
Graham Cove, managing director of The Cloud comments: “Broadband wireless connectivity is an essential part of everyday living. This venture with Punch Partnerships will allow customers to gain fast access to rich online media, regardless of their device type. By offering customers a little bit extra it will increase customer loyalty and dwell time – a necessity given the current economic climate.”
Kevin Georgel adds: “We have worked very closely with Graham and the team at The Cloud to create a really easy to use package for licensees.
For a £50 set up fee and a relatively small monthly charge, licensees can provide high quality, fast Wi-Fi service and be confident that it is completely secure and legal. The package also includes all the supporting point of sale materials and signage to ensure pub visitors know they can access free Wi-Fi on the premises.”
One of the first licensees to log on to the service is Jane Griggs of the Prince of Wales, Falmouth. She comments: “We’ve seen an upturn in sales and in the dwell time that customers spend in our pub. It’s given us the ability to drive trade at traditionally quieter times.”
“We’re seeing new customers in the mornings and evenings including business people, holiday makers and students. The package was also very easy to implement - getting online has been a huge success!”
Punch Taverns is the UK’s largest pub company with over 8,300 leased, tenanted and managed pubs nationwide.
The Cloud builds and operates WiFi networks across Europe to provide simple, fast, broadband to millions of WiFi enabled laptop, netbook, smartphone and entertainment devices. The Cloud has exclusive commercial partnerships with retail, leisure, hotels, sports, transport, entertainment and content partners to deliver its longer term vision of a connected society.
The Cloud connects over 3 million devices each month to its WiFi network. It is backed by Accel Partners, 3i, FERD and Provider Ventures and has raised over 50m Euros in funding. It also works with a growing number of brands such as Mariott, McDonalds, 02, Pret A Manger, Apple, Orange, the City of London Corporation and BAA to deliver fast Internet access to any WiFi enabled device. |