Punch Taverns forced to defend its stance on gay customers

7th June 2010, 2:01pm

Punch Taverns has re-iterated its diversity policy and launched an investigation after one of its pub managers allegedly refused to serve a group of gay customers.

The customers, who were visiting The Greencoat Boy pub in Westminster, were part of the Labour Party's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transexual Society (LGBT).

James Asser, co-chair of the LGBT Labour said: "We were surprised by the shocking action of the Greencoat Boy public house management. Turning people away for being gay is outrageous – he should have been defending his customers from homophobia."

In a hurried statement, Punch Taverns did its best to reassure critics that all are welcome in its pubs adding that it was "shocked" and "saddened" at the incident.

The company said "Punch Taverns seeks to provide open and welcoming venues to everyone. We are shocked and saddened that the Labour LGBT did not experience this at The Greencoat Boy last night and apologise unreservedly.

"Across our estate, diversity and inclusion are a core part of our ethics and are clearly referenced in our recruitment process, our equal opportunities policy and training. We would like to stress that this is an isolated incident; we have a good track record on equal opportunities and we do not tolerate homophobia in our pubs, whether from guests to other guests, or involving our employees.

"We are currently conducting a full investigation of the incident and the Deputy General Manager will not be on site until the investigation is concluded. We are co-operating fully with the police and plan to meet with the LGBT Labour Group early next week to discuss how we can work together to further improve our policies and procedures.

"In addition, we have this morning contacted all of our general managers and pub teams to remind them of our equal opportunity policy and will seek to work with external partners to further enhance our training to ensure that inclusion remains at the heart of it."

Related Articles:

• 01 Nov 2010 - Punch Taverns sponsors Licensed Trade Volunteer Programme for third year running
• 10 Aug 2010 - Punch Taverns push staff forward with apprenticeship and training initiatives

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