Greene King partners with Accessable to provide details access guides for 200 pubs

Greene King has partnered with AccessAble to create Detailed Access Guides for over 200 Farmhouse Inns and Hungry Horse pubs, helping customers find clear, practical accessibility information before they visit.

From this month, AccessAble’s team of specialist surveyors will work with general managers to assess each participating pub. Through guided video assessments, photographs, descriptions and measurements will be recorded across all internal and external customer areas. This will capture detailed information such as door widths, floor surfaces, bar counter height, and lighting as well as accessible entrances, parking, toilet facilities and quieter areas. This information will be used to create a Detailed Access Guide, which will be available through a link on the pub’s webpage and on AccessAble’s website. The process will also help pubs understand where practical improvements could enhance the customer experience.

AccessAble specialises in assessing public venues, providing detailed accessibility information about venues across the UK. Its access guides are designed to provide people with accessibility needs and carers the information they need to be able to confidently plan their visit. It’s expected that audits will be completed by the end of November across Hungry Horse and Farmhouse Inns, with all Detailed Access Guides available to view on AccessAble’s website from the beginning of December onwards.

Greene King’s own customer insight found that access to clear information in advance can be particularly important for people with a disability and carers when visiting and unfamiliar venue. The new guides are intended to help people make informed decisions based on their individual needs.

Andrew Bush, Chief Strategy & Experience Officer at Greene King said: “We want our pubs to be welcoming, safe spaces where people feel like they belong. An important part of that is making sure that everyone has access to the information they need to feel confident when planning a visit to one of our pubs.

“Partnering with AccessAble will help us give customers clear, practical details about our pubs before they arrive, helping them make an informed choice based on their individual needs. This is an important step forward for us in making our pubs relevant to more people by improving the experience we provide, and we know that there is more for us to learn and do.”

Dr Gregory Burke, Founder and Executive Chair at AccessAble said: “For many disabled people, the difference between going to the pub and staying at home can come down to whether they have clear information about access before they go.

“Accessibility is personal. Having detailed, practical and trustworthy information means people can decide for themselves whether a place will work for them. That freedom to make our own choices, and to take part in everyday life on our own terms, is an important part of dignity and independence.

“Pubs are part of the fabric of everyday life - they are places to meet friends and family, celebrate, share a meal and feel part of a community. We’re delighted to be working with Greene King to help more people enjoy that freedom with greater confidence and choice.”

The partnership with AccessAble follows a pilot across 10 of Greene Kings managed pubs in the Midlands earlier this year, during which assessments were carried out, and Detailed Access Guides were created for customers. The collaboration also supports Greene King’s new and evolved Inclusion and Diversity strategy, which reaffirms the company's ambition to create environments where everyone feels they belong.