FSB urges government to act now or lose pubs forever

27 August 2009 by
FSB urges government to act now or lose pubs forever

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has urged the government to abolish the beer tie in order to save Britain's pubs.

A new FSB report has found that one in eight tied pubs is struggling to survive and paying up to 50% more for beer compared to untied pub owners, forcing them to pass these inflated charges to the customer.

The report of 227 FSB publican members also found that 73% would support a complete removal of the tie and nearly 80% said that transparency in rent reviews is an issue.

The report makes three clear demands: abolish the tie where it doesn't give tenants the opportunity to make a fair profit; create an independent ombudsmen to support and advise tenants in conflict with their Pubco; and enforce fully transparent rent reviews through a statutory code.

"Tenanted pubs are not being given a fair deal from the Pubcos that own them: nearly one in six say they do not receive enough business support and a further seven out of 10 are left to their own devices once the contract has been signed," said Davenport, adding: "Without urgent action, we could see the pubs at the heart of our communities disappear forever."

Half of rural pubs missing out on business rate relief >>

Industry rejects MPs' call for beer-tie investigation >>

Rulings on tips draws mixed feelings from the industry >>

By Emma White

E-mail your comments to Emma White here.

If you have something to say on this story or anything else join the debate at Table Talk - Caterer's new networking forum. Go to www.caterersearch.com/tabletalk

Caterersearch.com jobs
Looking for a new job? Find your next pub job here with Caterersearch.com jobs

Blogs on Caterersearch.com](http://www.caterersearch.com/blogs) Catch up with more news and gossip on all Caterer's blogs
[Newsletters For the latest hospitality news, sign up for our e-mail newsletters.
The Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email

Start the working day with The Caterer’s free breakfast briefing email

Sign Up and manage your preferences below

Check mark icon
Thank you

You have successfully signed up for the Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email and will hear from us soon!

Jacobs Media is honoured to be the recipient of the 2020 Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The highest official awards for UK businesses since being established by royal warrant in 1965. Read more.

close

Ad Blocker detected

We have noticed you are using an adblocker and – although we support freedom of choice – we would like to ask you to enable ads on our site. They are an important revenue source which supports free access of our website's content, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.

trade tracker pixel tracking