A response from the Fair Pint Campaign to the BBPA's; 'UK Pub Industry Framework Code of Practice for Tied Tenanted and Leased Pubs'.
Wednesday 11th February
Read the Fair Pint Campaign's detailed comments on the BII/ BBPA / FLVA Agreement on the Operation of Leased and Tenanted Pub Agreements containing Purchase Obligations - i.e. Tied Pubs.
Fair Pint: Weak BBPA Code Is Nothing but Window Dressing
Monday 19th January
Fair Pint says the new code of practice is simply an attempt appear to be responding to concerns about the business practices of its members, whist ensuring that nothing changes in the sector.
Fair Pint Response to the BII / BBPA / FLVA agreement on tied pub agreements.
Wednesday 11th November
Read the Fair Pint Campaign's detailed comments on the BII/ BBPA / FLVA Agreement on the Operation of Leased and Tenanted Pub Agreements containing Purchase Obligations - i.e. Tied Pubs.
Fair Pint focuses beer tie debate on Europe
Monday 26th October
Fair Pint says it’s “full steam ahead” for lobbying Europe over the beer tie despite the UK’s Office of Fair Trading (OFT).
The Times: Pub-tie dispute may not yet be over
Friday 23rd October
The OFT's decision inevitably provoked wildy differing opinions. The Fair Pint campaign, a group of tenants who have become increasingly vocal about the nasty pubcos such as Punch Taverns and Enterprise Inns, declared the decision to be bad for the British pub. The pubcos, meanwhile, breathed a huge sigh of relief.
The Morning Advertiser: RICS to make pub rent changes
Friday 16th October
The tied tenant should be financially no worse off than the free of tie tenant — that is the key finding of the Royal Institute of Chartered Sureyors (RICS).
Karl Harrison of the Fair Pint Campaign said: “It now appears that the RICS, and a leading property lawyer, agree with the Fair Pint Campaign that a rent review should leave the tied tenant no worse off financially than the non-tied tenant.”
The Publican: Fair Pint campaign is “having an influence”
Thursday 24th September
A former government minister has heaped praise on the Fair Pint campaign saying it is “having an influence” and “clearly annoying people”.
Labour MP Kate Hoey, a former sports minister, also encouraged disgruntled tenants to speak to their customers about the issues with their pubco. “I’d like to praise the campaign (Fair Pint), they have done really well,” she said. “I’m now getting letters from Enterprise and Punch saying you must meet us. The campaign is having an influence.”
Thursday 6 August 2009
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is accepting submissions from individual licensees as well as stakeholders for its new investigation into pubcos. more...
Friday 28 July 2009
The London Evening Standard reports on the Fair Pint / Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) call for the Government and the Royal Bank of Scotland to free the bank’s 1,000 pub estate from tie. more...
Friday 24 July 2009
The Fair Pint campaign has welcomed the Campaign for Real Ale’s supercomplaint which highlights how restricted and distorted competition in the market and the operation of the ‘beer tie’ has inflated the price of beer to consumers and made it difficult for tied tenants to make a living from their pubs - but believes that the only way in which the pub sector will be able to secure its long term future is by giving publicans the freedom to adapt to changing customer demands by through the total abolition of ‘ties’. more...
Tuesday 21 July 2009
The London Evening Standard reports on the Fair Pint / Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) call for the Government and the Royal Bank of Scotland to free the bank’s 1,000 pub estate from tie. more...
Tuesday 21 July 2009
Fair Pint Campaign and the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) are calling on the Government and the Royal Bank of Scotland to free the bank’s 1,000 pub estate from tie which means that they are locked into buying beer from their landlords at significantly higher prices that the same beer is available to free of tie publicans and to allow their tenants to buy their pubs by providing mortgages. more...
Monday 20 July 2009
Commenting on the launch of a new tenancy scheme by Marston’s which offers beer at ‘free of tie prices’ in return for rent increases for some of their tenants, the Fair Pint Campaign have expressed concern that the offer doesn’t include a reform of the way in which rents are calculated and that the scheme will still leave tenants worse off than if they were fully free of tie. more...
Thursday 16 July 2009
Commenting on today’s results from the Enterprise Inns which show that the failure rate of its tied tenants has increased by up to 50 percent on last year’s figures the Fair Pint campaign has said that the company’s problems show the weakness of the ‘pubco’ model and there is now a need for a radical change in the sector to ensure the future sustainability of the pub sector. more...
Thursday 16 July 2009
The Fair Pint campaign have cautiously welcomed the launch of a campaign by CAMRA to change EU law to allow differential amounts of duty to be charged on draught beer, but given that beer duty is paid by producers and importers rather than retailers they have warned that any changes will only help to keep pubs open if the reductions are directly passed on to publicans. more...
Monday 13 July 2009
Industry leaders and MPs from all three main political parties, including members of the Business and Enterprise Select Committee - joined by tenant’s and trade union representatives - will be attending the Fair Pint summit in the House of Commons tomorrow morning to discuss the changes that are needed to the industry in light of the Select Committee’s report on Pub Companies. more...
Monday 29 June 2009
The Fair Pint Campaign today welcomed Enterprise Inn’s publication of a letter to Lord Mandelson which admitted that much is wrong with the tenanted pub model and that reform is necessary.
The campaign is, however, unconvinced as to whether Enterprise Inns are willing or able to make reforms which will have any significant effect on the viability of pub tenant’s businesses and the long term future of the sector. more...
Monday 29 June 2009
Campaign group Fair Pint is waiting to hear if pubcos Punch Taverns and Enterprise Inns will attend a summit meeting next month. more...
Thursday 25 June 2009
The Fair Pint Campaign has welcomed the decision by NatWest to repay nearly £4,000 in fines taken by Enterprise Inns by direct debit from a lessee for buying beer outside of their tie conditions.
The Fair Pint Campaign have called on other tenants who have been accused of buying out and have and fines taken from them without their approval by direct debit to contact their bank and to seek to reclaim their money. more...
Wednesday 10 June 2009
Commenting on reports of the ALMR ‘s attempts to establish an agreement amongst key players in the industry through a process of arbitration, the Fair Pint campaign and the Federation of Small Business (FSB) have said that a negotiated agreement within the industry should not be seen as an alternative to an investigation by the Competition Commission. more...
Tuesday 2 June 2009
The Fair Pint Campaign and the Federation of Small Business (FSB) have today launched a national campaign to push for government action to refer the unfair tie between the country’s pubs and the Pub Companies that own them to the Competition Commission. more...
Thursday 4 June 2009
The Fair Pint Campaign have branded Ted Tuppen, Chief Executive of Enterprise Inns, plan to establish a body paid for by company to represent the interests of tenants as an example of the 'pubcos' unbelievable cynicism. more...
Wednesday 27 May 2009
The Fair Pint Campaign has congratulated BII Chief Executive, Neil Robertson, on his attempts to introduce a new low cost adjudication scheme for rent disputes but says that he risks failure unless he can secure fundamental changes to the way in which rents are calculated. more...
25 May 2009
The Morning Advertiser and The Publican feature a number of reports from the Fair Pint Campaign's Parliamentary Lobby Day on 20th May - highlighting support from Greg Mulholland MP and Shadow Licensing Minister Tobias Ellwood.
Find out more about the Lobby Day, the Business and Enterprise Committee's "daming report on Pubco Power", The Fair Pint Campaign's report, and the stories of individual tenants using the links below:
Morning Advertiser:
Greg Mulholland MP backs Fair Pint lobby day, claiming that the Pubco's treatment of tied tenants is a "national disgrace"
Fair Pint jubilant at pubco report
Tied tenants converge on Westminster
The Publican:
Anti-tie campaigners welcome pubco report
Top Tory backs Fair Pint lobby day
Fair Pint offers retort to Tuppen
Tied tenants to lobby MPs
MPs slam the tie at Fair Pint lobby event
Telegraph:
Pubcos failed to reckon with the growing influence of the Fair Pint
The Economist:
Backs Fair Pint’s call for a Competition Commission Inquiry into the tie
This is South Devon:
South Devon Landlords welcome pub industry practices probe
Tuesday 19 May 2009
The London Evening Standard highlights the low average income of tied tenants - most of whom earn less than £15,000 a year - and asks if pubco bosses Ted Tuppen and Giles Thorley would sign up for the same contracts if they ran a pub? more...
Tuesday 12 May 2009
The Fair Pint campaign has expressed concerns over emerging evidence about the effect of the Chancellor’s 2% increase in beer duty. Fair Pint fear that the major pubcos are using the duty increase as a means to increase their profits at the expense of publicans and the consumer. more...
Wednesday 22 April 2009
Commenting on the Chancellor’s announcement in today’s Budget that alcohol duty would be increased by 2% today Fair Pint has pointed out that a duty freeze or a reduction was unlikely to have made any difference to pubs, without an explicit promise that brewers and ‘pubcos’ would pass it on my reducing the prices at which they sell to publicans. more...
Monday 20 April 2009
On Wednesday 20th May, tied tenants from across the UK will be meeting with their local MPs in the Houses of Parliament to let them know about the pressures they face and asking MPs for their support in bringing about an end to the tie. more...
Tuesday 14 April 2009
The Fair Pint Campaign has welcomed John Grogan’s the tie is a legitimate target for investigation. Mr Grogan has written to CAMRA, suggesting that it should use its position as a Super Complainant under the Enterprise Act 2002, to refer the issue to the Office for Fair Trading if the Business and Enterprise Select Committee suggests an that there is a need for an OFT investigation into the tie. more...
Wednesday 8 April 2009
Reports that Punch Taverns is selling more of its pubs to Tesco shows clearly the dishonesty of the British Beer and Pub Association and its 'pubco' clients. Whilst blaming supermarket pricing for the closure of community pubs, Punch Taverns and other ‘pubcos’ are actively working with developers to convert their pubs into supermarkets. more...
Wednesday 8 April 2009
Fair Pint claims Punch has been trying to sell pub sites to supermarket chains, while Enterprise is accused of selling pubs with the express proviso they cannot be run as pubs in the future. more...
Tuesday 7 April 2009
The Fair Pint Campaign today accused Scottish & Newcastle Pub Enterprises, which manages the estate for RBS, of charging tied landlords up to 75% more for beers and lagers than they would pay in the open market. The publicans' lobby group said this was outrageous given that these pubs were in effect state-owned. more...
Monday 6 April 2009
Believing that there is a danger that the largest pubcos won’t be able to meet their future debt obligations as both sales and property values continue to decline, the Fair Pint Campaign has revealed that it intends to use shareholder and bondholder status in Punch Taverns and Enterprise Inns to press for change in the pubco model. more...
Friday 3 April 2009
The Times Business Section reports on the GMB's support for the Fair Pint campaign, and their statement yesterday calling on the Government to "break up the pub company cartels ... driving pubs out of business". more...
Thursday 2 April 2009
The Fair Pint campaign has hit back at the BBPA’s response to a survey undertaken by the GMB Union showing how the tie and the pubco business model has led to the closure of 1,131 pubs since December 2005, due to huge increases in beer prices charged by pubcos over recent years. more...
Thursday 2 April 2009
The Yorkshire Post reports on GMB's claims pubcos are driving up wholesale beer prices by as much as 8% every year, even during the current recession, driving pubs out of business. more...
Wednesday 1 April 2009
GMB calls on government to break up pub company cartels charging pub tenants up to 80 pence over the wholesale price of a pint of beer and to stop them driving pubs out of business. more...
Monday 30 March 2009
The Fair Pint campaign has welcomed the publication of the IPPR’s report Pubs and Places: The social value of community Pubs. The report looks at the reasons why so many community pubs are closing - identifying the business model of the pubcos, the tie and the lack of transparency in rent reviews as a factor. more...
Friday 27 March 2009
The Fair Pint Campaign has welcomed recent comments by the Chancellor and the Licensing Minister Gerry Sutcliffe on the damage which is caused to the pub sector by the tie. more...
Thursday 26 March 2009
Reporting on last month's protests at the headquarters of Enterprise Inns and Punch, the Birmingham Post explores the hardship faced by pubs across the country, and the "storm brewing pub landlords and the pubcos.." more...
Tuesday 17 March 2009
Today, the Fair Pint Campaign has commented on Ted Tuppen’s article in this company’s magazine Eagle Eye, which has recently being distributed to Enterprise Tenants. Fair Pint has said that the Enterprise Chief Executive is insulting the intelligence of publicans by urging them to sign up to the BBPA’s Axe the Tax Campaign. more...
Thursday 12 March 2009
Commenting on the recent changes to the senior management at the BBPA and reports about the association’s future plans, the Fair Pint Campaign has said that the body will continue to find it difficult to act as voice for the pub sector unless it is willing to address the damage being caused to the sector by the business models of its ‘pubco’ members. more...
Thursday 12 March 2009
The Fair Pint Campaign is giving its backing to Greg Mulholland MP’s campaign to ensure if the Government decides to reduce beer duty in the budget, these reductions are passed on to publicans and consumers. more...
Friday 5 March 2009
The Fair Pint Campaign has welcomed comments from Treasury Minister Angela Eagle and Licensing Minister Gerry Sutcliffe stating that that the tie is a reason for the problems faced by the pub sector and the tied tenancy business model needs to be reconsidered. more...
Tuesday 3 March 2009
Under the headline "Anger at beer keg cost con", the Sun's Business section highlights results of the Fair Pint Campaign's survey showing that a keg of Carling costs £110 from Enterprise, compared to the £63 from alternative brewer Coors. more...
Tuesday 24 February 2009
The Fair Pint Campaign has thrown its support behind the newly established All Party Save Our Pubs Group which is being led by Liberal Democrat MP Greg Mulholland. more...
Wednesday 28 January 2009
The Fair Pint Campaign is calling for tied tenants to benefit from immediate rent reductions, in light of the British Beer and Pub Association's announcement that beer volumes have fallen by more than 9% this year - dramatically affecting pub incomes. more...
Monday 26 January 2009
More than 100 licensees and customers - including Fair Pint members from across the country - have joined a protest at the headquarters of Enterprise Inns and Punch Taverns.
Updated: see video clips of Fair Pint campaigners at the Enterprise Inns protest. more...
Thursday 22 January 2009
The Fair Pint Campaign has welcomed support for their campaign from Tim Martin, Chairman and founder of the JD Wetherspoon pub chain. Speaking in this week's Morning Advertiser, he says the pubco model is "unsustainable" because tenants are charged too much for beer, and that pub companies have "lost control" of their licensees. more...
Wednesday 21 January 2009
In this week's Morning Advertiser, the Fair Pint campaign's David Morgan has re-assured tied lessees that they won't lose their pub if their pubco goes in to administration. more...
Wednesday 14 January 2009
Fair Pint campaigner David Morgan highlights "how out of touch Punch are", as more than 1/3rd of shareholders at today's annual shareholder meeting rejected "potentially excessive" performance awards at the company - whose share price has fallen 97% since May 2007. more...
Saturday 10 January 2009
The Guardian believes that "good news may lie ahead" for those campaigning to break the pubco tie, citing the City's sense that the Punch and Enterprise business models are "broken", given their focus on "financial engineering" and a model that "restricts the licensee's ability to compete", rather than improving their offer to consumers. more...
12th December 2008
BBC2's Money Programme investigates the impact of the pubco tie - with contributions from Fair Pint campaigner David Morgan, and a number of personal 'case studies' from tied tenants, showing the reality of trading under the tie.
Updated: watch the programme online using the BBC iPlayer. more...
Wednesday 10th December 2008
The House of Commons Business and Enterprise Committee yesterday questioned pubco bosses and trade body leaders, as part of their ongoing inquiry into pub companies. Watch a recording of the session, and read the significant coverage across from across national and trade press - including The Publican and The Morning Advertiser, Evening Standard, Guardian and The Times. more...
Sunday 30th November 2008
The Politics Show's South-of-England team look at the difficulties faced by local pubs up and down the country, and asks what more politicians of every party could do to help? Contributors include Fair Pint campaigner David Morgan, and Shadow Licensing Minister Tobias Ellwood MP. more...
Thurday 27th November 2008
The Morning Advertiser looks at the arguments put forward at last week's hearing of the Business and Enterprise Committee pubco inquiry - including evidence from Fair Pint and the Federation of Small Businesses. more...
Thurday 20th November 2008
The front page of this week's Morning Advertiser reports on the first hearing of the Business and Enterprise Committee's inqury into pubcos - outlining the arguments put forward by the Fair Pint campaign, and highlighting the case studies submitted by Fair Pint supporters across the country. more...
Wednesday 19th November 2008
The Financial Times reports on the Fair Pint Campaign's evidence to MPs, as part of the Business and Enterprise Committee's enquiry into pubcos, with the business organisation claiming that rigorous pubcos contracts made it hard for tenants to survive the current economic climate. more...
Tuesday 18th November 2008
Members of the Fair Pint campaign are giving evidence to the Business and Enterprise Committee’s inquiry into pubcos today. The inquiry revisits one that their predecessor undertook in 2004, and will investigate how the recommendations have been applied. more...
Friday 7th November 2008
Steve Corbett, a founding member of the Fair Pint campaign and licensee of the George Canning in South East London, has debated the state of the pub industry and where the pubcos fit into the system with BBPA director of communications Mark Hastings. more...
Saturday 1st November 2008
The difficulties facing pubco tenants are exemplified by an article in this weekend's Financial Times, looking at Fair Pint campaigner Mark Dodds' experience of running tied pub The Sun and Doves in South London. more...
Friday 31st October 2008
The Fair Pint campaign has written to the Office of Fair Trading, calling on them to investigate the growing disparity between the discount levels that pubcos are able to command from brewers, and those that the pubcos pass on to their tenants. more...
Wednesday 29th October 2008
Fair Pint campaign member Mike Bell highlights the trouble facing pub landlords on ITV's flagship regional evening news programme. more...
Wednesday 29th October 2008
Today's London Evening Standard reports on the Fair Pint campaign's response to proposals by the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group for tax cuts on draught beer - claiming that such a move would "do nothing to help the individual pub tenant, but simply prop up a business model which has abused its position and become even more unviable". more...
Monday 27th October 2008
Today's Guardian highlights the difficulties faced by tied tenants, with pub sales faling by more than 8% in the last quarter, as consumer fears of recession begin to bite. more...
Thursday 23rd October 2008
The All Party Parliamentary Beer Group’s report on community pubs lays the blame at the wrong door. Thousands of pubs are closing around the country, and many more are at breaking point, but a report funded by the chief culprits does nothing to enlighten us. more...
Tuesday 30th September 2008
Today's Evening Standard compares the debt "piled up" by pubcos' Punch and Enterprise with the highly-leveraged Wall Street banks at the centre of the credit crunch. more...
Sunday 28th September 2008
Under the headline "Tenants call time on Punch Taverns", today's Sunday Times reports that almost 20% of the company's tenanted premises are looking for a new licencee, and outlines a tougher time ahead for the pubco business model. more...
Friday 12th September 2008
The Guardian reports on the Fair Pint campaign, highlighting Morgan Stanley's pubco research showing that 20-30% of Punch and Enterprise tied pubs may see licensees make less than £20,000. more...
Thursday 11th September 2008
The Fair Pint campaign has asked the Financial Services Authority to investigate the pubco practice of merging their ‘tangible’ and ‘intangible’ income streams. more...
Thursday 11th September 2008
The Fair Pint campaign sees the Morgan Stanley report, which advises investors to avoid leased / tenanted pubcos, as yet further evidence of the need to reform the leased pub market. more...
Thursday 14th August 2008
In an article in the Morning Advertiser, Brian Jacobs responds to Clive Williams' claims that the Fair Pint campaign is in "cloud-cuckoo land" in its bid to break the beer tie. more...
Saturday 9th August 2008
The weekend FT highlights the views of tenants who say that beer ties are forcing them to buy beer at above-market prices. more...
Sunday 3rd August 2008
Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, and Twickenham MP, Vince Cable is backing the Fair Pint Campaign to give Richmond’s pubs more protection from breweries and chains. more...
Friday 4th July 2008
The Fair Pint campaign has responded to the claims of Simon Townsend (chief operating officer of Enterprise Inns), where he claimed that he does not believe that the tie has anything to do with the difficulties faced by some pubs, because the model is able to respond to economically challenging times. more...
Wednesday 2nd July 2008
Publicans are in no doubt that the smoking ban has had some impact on their trade. But they will also tell you that it is not the real reason why pub landlords are going out of business. The truth is that the major cause of difficulty for half the pubs in the country is the ‘supply tie’. more...
Thursday 26th June 2008
Today's London Evening Standard highlights the Fair Pint? campaign's success in calling for the Business and Enterprise Committee to investigate the pubco tie. more...
Thursday 26th June 2008
Reporting on yesterday's Business and Enterprise Committee announcement, the paper warns that "the bosses of Britain's biggest pub groups could be called before MPs after a Parliamentary inquiry was launched to investigate whether pub companies have too much power". more...
Wednesday 25th June 2008
The Fair Pint campaign is delighted that the Business and Enterprise Committee is to review the recommendations that its precursor committee, the Trade and Industry Committee, made in 2004. more...
Tuesday 24th June 2008
The article praises the "well organised" campaign, outlining Fair Pint's concerns about the effect of the tie on individual landlords, the unforseen impact of the 1989 Beer Orders, and how the Trade and Industry Committee's recommendations on pubcos have "more or less (been) ignored". more...
PFriday 6th June 2008
Ted Tuppen, Chief Executive of Enterprise Inns, criticises the 45 MPs who have signed an Early Day motion highlighting the conduct of pubcos. more...
PFriday 23rd May 2008
The Fair Pint? campaign responds to a statement by John Grogan MP on the campaign. more...
Thursday 15th May 2008
The Fair Pint? campaign welcomes CAMRA’s decision to join the debate on the future relationship between lessees and pubcos, however fundamentally disagrees with their position that the removal of the supply tie is counter-productive and would lead to higher rents. more...
Tuesday 13th May 2008
Fair Pint campaigners meet MPs to launch the campaign at the Houses of Parliament. more...
Monday 12th May 2008
The Fair Pint campaign will be launched in the Houses of Parliament on Tuesday 13th May. The campaign is highlighting the plight of UK landlords and consumers who suffer as a result of ‘tied lease agreements’ to pub companies (pubcos). more...
