Marston's raises a glass to the success of its F-Plan

The Pitcher & Piano and Tavern Table operator, which runs around 200 pubs in Yorkshire, said underlying profits rose nearly five per cent to 73.5m in the year to October 2.

Marston's said food has become much more popular in its pubs following the smoking ban as diners can eat without the smell of cigarette smoke.

Food now accounts for 40 per cent of group sales.

Marston's chief executive Ralph Findlay said the group's profits have also been helped by strong sales of premium ales such as Ringwood and Hobgoblin. Volumes of Marston's premium ales rose three per cent, helping push revenue in its beer division up by 4.5 per cent.

The company said that Yorkshire pubs are among the group's top performers. Last week The Mustard Pot in Chapel Allerton in Leeds was named Marston's Pub of the Year. Two Yorkshire pubs were named in the top six. The other runner-up was The Gray Ox in Hartshead, near Huddersfield.

Marston's also said it is seeing strong take up of retail agreements from publicans in Yorkshire. The group's new retail agreements give the tenants a share of the profits, which motivates them to improve the pub's performance.

The group is keen to turn around its tenanted pubs, which are owned by the company but managed by landlords. Revenue in tenanted pubs fell 2.8 per cent to 171m in the year to October 2.

The tenanted estate has fared less well through the recession as tenanted pubs can't match the flexibility that managed rivals have on pricing and promotions.

The group said it has made a strong start to its new financial year, with managed like-for-like sales up three per cent in the eight weeks to November 27.

Like-for-like sales at its managed pubs rose 1.7 per cent, boosted by the opening of 15 new pub-restaurants, with underlying operating profit rising eight per cent.