Punch Taverns has announced plans to invest £20m across its UK pub estate to help encourage growth through a series of "small-scale" improvements.

The pub group has revealed that 450 properties will benefit from an average of £37,000 under its Investing For Growth (I4G) to carry out work to boost trade. Work has already started at 12 sites, focussing on upgrading food promotions and introducing or improving cask-ale deals in the lead up to the World Cup and the summer period.

Punch Taverns operations director Kevin Georgel said: "We know we have partners working incredibly hard whose pubs are not performing at an optimum level for whatever reason. "I4G is another way for us to support our partners - with investments specifically designed to drive trade and promote growth."

Meanwhile, the pub group has reported a 19.5 per cent fall in pre-tax profits to £66m for the 28 weeks to 6 March 2010, as conditions for the sector remain challenging.