Top up with Fuller, Smith & Turner

Fuller's latest results hammered home its credentials as an industry leader. It reported an 8.3 per cent increase in like-for-like sales in the managed estate, which chief executive Simon Emeny says is down to "a focus on quality" and "consistent investment" in expansion throughout the recession, which has since accelerated in the last couple of years. The estate extends as far north as Birmingham and as far west as Bristol, but Fuller's is best known for its London-centric portfolio of pubs. This year, three more pubs will open in Kew, Fulham and Greenwich and a new London Pride pub has just opened at the newly refurbished Terminal 2 at London's Heathrow airport.

But Mr Emeny - the first non-family member to be appointed chief executive of the group - says it's not just consistent new openings that sets Fuller's apart. In fact, he recognises that most of its competitors are also on the expansion bandwagon. Instead, he believes Fuller's commitment to staff training and customer service helped drive its stellar 2013 performance. For example, Fuller's estimates each of its pubs received approximately 400 hours of training in the last year.

Investors also shouldn't overlook the group's commitment to food in recent years. The wider industry has recognised that focusing on families and dining out is as important as wet-led sales and Fuller's refuses to fall short in this arena. Food sales rose 10.4 per cent on a like-for-like basis in 2013, prompting the extension of the group 'chef development programme', which awards scholarships to junior team members in the hope of developing home-grown executive chefs.

The Fuller's Beer Company is also expanding. While Mr Emeny admits 2013 was a "year of change" for the business, he said the aim was "to lay foundations for the future". Total beer and cider volumes rose 1 per cent year on year and the 2014-15 financial year should benefit from a full 12-month contribution from new acquisition Cornish Orchards and the recent £7.3m purchase of a 51 per cent share in a craft cider and pizza restaurant business, The Stable. The cut in beer duty, announced as part of the 2014 Budget in March, should also help.

At the start of the new financial year, beer volumes are climbing - up 10 per cent in the first nine weeks - but Mr Emeny warned that this far exceeded even the board's expectations. He said the timing of Easter and its fall into the new fiscal year has helped, but volumes should still fare well - if not at this level - for the remainder of the year. Meanwhile, like-for-like sales from the managed estate have risen 8 per cent so far and like-for-like profits in the tenanted estate are up 4 per cent.