Punch creates virtual delivery brand

Punch Pubs & Co has launched Bull & Bird, a new virtual brand that offers burgers, fried chicken and more via home delivery up and down the country.

First launched in three pubs in November 2020, the dark kitchen concept saw immediate success, selling out in two of the three trial venues. Encouraged by the sales, Punch expanded the trial base to a further 20 pubs stretching from Swindon to Macclesfield.

During the last year, growth in home delivery spend has unsurprisingly accelerated due to national lockdowns being in place. The idea behind the new virtual brand is to give Punch operators an additional income stream.

"We believe that this sustained growth is an indication of long-term behaviour change in our customer base, so creating a virtual brand made perfect sense," says James Gilbert, head of insight, projects and strategy at Punch. “We are incredibly proud of Bull & Bird. The success we’ve seen so far is fantastic, and we are looking forward to rolling the brand out to more of our pubs in the coming weeks."