It has not been a good year for pub companies. Orchid went into administration this month and the larger operators have seen their share prices pummelled as investors flee, given the trend towards buying cheap booze from supermarkets.

When Giles Thorley, chief executive of Punch Taverns - Britain's biggest pub company - presented its disappointing annual results in November, he said that one of the biggest problems over the summer had been trying to hold back the wave of negative sentiment, much of it exacerbated by short-sellers.

“The market perception has been the biggest issue, Mr Thorley said. “It's not the nicest time to be running a public company at the moment. You do feel the weight of expectations, especially negative ones.”

On Christmas Eve, Punch formally began the sale process for 500 of its leased pubs by offering their existing lessees first refusal on the properties.

The group, which said in November that it would sell about 3 per cent of its 1,600 portfolio, sent letters to the lessees last week asking them to submit their offers by about Easter if they were interested in buying their pub.

A spokesman said that Punch had already received “considerable interest” from lessees, but declined to give further details about the sale process.

It is not unusual for large pub companies to dispose of their worst-performing operations each year. However, Punch needs the cash that the sales will generate more than usual. In November, the group cut the value of hundreds of poorly performing pubs in its accounts by £295 million, resulting in a loss of £80 million in the year to August 23.

Mr Thorley joined Punch in 2001 as executive chairman and became chief executive two years later. He split the company into managed and tenanted businesses and floated the tenanted part as Punch Taverns - at the second attempt, after having to cut the price.

He swiftly built Punch into the main rival to Enterprise Inns as Britain's biggest pub company and overtook Enterprise after acquiring Spirit Group for £2.7 billion. The deal reunited Punch with its old managed pub business and it now has an estate of about 8,500 leased, tenanted and managed pubs.

Mr Thorley, who is 41, is also chairman of Tragus, which owns the Café Rouge chain, and a director of TUI Travel. He lives in Cheltenham with his wife and three sons and has a second home in France.