Marston’s runs local pubs, bars and inns across the UK, serving food and drink.
What you get
Shareholders receive 24 vouchers a year. Each gives 30% off food at participating Marston’s pubs.
What it takes
You need at least 500 shares on 30 November each year.
Before buyingA perk is a minor benefit of owning a share, not a reason to buy one. Share prices fall as well as rise, and dealing costs, spreads and tax can exceed a perk’s value. Read about the risks.
Holding through a broker
Shares held in your own name qualify.
Claiming through a nominee depends on the broker’s support.
Marston’s does not say whether ISA or SIPP holdings qualify.
Choose a broker to see its guidance. The company’s eligibility rules still apply.
Hargreaves Lansdown Documented route
HL says qualifying holders receive vouchers automatically after the qualifying date. HL labels its directory April 2025. Check current issuer terms; this route has not been tested.
Broker source , checked
interactive investor Documented route
Request the benefit from ii; it posts the vouchers. ii labels this entry January 2024. Check current issuer terms; this route has not been tested.
Broker source , checked
Other conditions
- Who else can use it
- Parties of up to 8 people per voucher
How to claim
The FAQ does not specify proof requirements for broker-held shares.
- 1. If the shares are registered in your nameMarston’s sends the booklet automatically after the qualifying date.
- 2. If you hold through a bank or brokerAsk your bank or broker first. Some pass the vouchers on to their clients, but Marston’s does not say which.
- 3. Check the pub, then show your voucherNot every pub takes vouchers; use the pub finder on the issuer’s page. Show the voucher to staff when you order. Bills cannot be split to use more than one.
Company Secretariat - Shareholder enquiries: investorrelations@marstons.co.uk
Exclusions and limits
Excluded: Drink and accommodation, even in the same transaction; Bank holidays; Mother’s Day; Easter Sunday; Father’s Day.
Usage limits: One booklet per shareholder per year; one voucher per transaction.
The offer cannot be combined with other discounts.
Dates
The published terms do not say how long you must hold the shares.
- Qualifying date
- 30 November each year
- Benefit issued
- After the qualifying date; Marston’s gives no dispatch month
- Valid from
- Use the benefit by
Practical notes
The next booklet
A new holding must qualify on the annual ownership date. It does not entitle you to the current vouchers. Marston’s has not said when the next booklet will be valid.
Keep the original voucher
Copies and forged, damaged or defaced vouchers are refused. A voucher cannot be passed to someone else or exchanged for cash.
The old Privilege Card
Marston’s extended the old Privilege Card to 30 April 2022, then withdrew it. Shareholders now receive voucher booklets instead.
The offer can change
Marston’s can change the terms or withdraw the offer at any time.
History of the perk
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The card becomes a staff benefit
From 26 May 2022, the Privilege Card became a virtual card issued to employees; the terms no longer mentioned shareholders.
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A further six months
By January 2022, Marston’s had extended the card again, to 30 April 2022, while it reviewed its reward discounts.
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The pandemic extends the 2018 card
Marston’s extended the 2018 card from 31 October 2020 to 31 October 2021 because the pandemic had closed pubs. Its September 2020 terms limited cards to shareholders who held the qualifying shares by 30 September 2020.
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The holding requirement rises
New shareholders from 31 October 2014 needed 500 shares for a card. Existing holders continued to qualify with 84 shares until 31 October 2016, when the 500-share minimum applied to everyone.
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Shareholders join Pathfinder Privilege
Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries extended its staff and pensioner discount to shareholders: 20% off food and accommodation in most Pathfinder pubs.
Company story
The breweries behind the name
Marston’s dates its brewing heritage to 1834, when John Marston began brewing at the Horninglow Brewery in Burton upon Trent. A Gale company history describes another predecessor, the Park Brewery, founded by a Mr Banks in Wolverhampton in 1875. Banks was “said to have enjoyed living the good life”, ran up debts to malt supplier George Thompson and disappeared, leaving Thompson to take over the brewery, according to that history. Thompson merged Park with his Dudley brewery and the Fox Brewery in 1890 to form Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries. The same history dates Wolverhampton & Dudley’s purchase of Marston’s to 1999.
A staff perk reaches shareholders
Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries introduced Pathfinder Privilege in 2004, giving employees and pensioners 20% off food in most Pathfinder pubs. By 2006, the company had extended the discount to shareholders and added accommodation; its annual report called the extension “particularly well received”. The group adopted the Marston’s name by 2007, and Pathfinder Pubs became Marston’s Inns and Taverns. Shareholders carried the same Privilege Card as staff and pensioners; the 2016 terms called it a benefit for “Marston’s people”. The Motley Fool listed the card among “the best shareholder perks you’ve never heard of” in November 2014, estimating that a qualifying holding cost about £715 and saying the offer could pay for itself quickly.
Lockdown and the end of the card
The 2018 card was due to expire in October 2020, but Marston’s extended it to October 2021 because the pandemic had closed pubs. It then added six months, to April 2022, “while we continue to review reward discounts”. From May 2022, the Privilege Card became a virtual card for staff, with shareholders absent from its terms. Shareholders now receive voucher booklets instead.
Sources: Marston’s, About us ; International Directory of Company Histories ; Marston’s, 2006 annual report ; The Motley Fool, 2014