Greene King tenants angry over beer pricing

A group of Greene King tenants has accused the company of ripping them off over beer prices.

About 100 landlords have united to make a formal complaint to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).

The Oxfordshire publicans are claiming Greene King's local managed pubs get their beer for less, undercutting them and leaving them out of pocket.

Former Greene King tenant Meeko Oates, of the Shoulder of Mutton pub in Wantage, said he discovered last year that managed pubs in the area were receiving 22-litre barrels of Fosters lager for £84 from the brewers, yet as a tenant he paid the same for just 10 litres.

Oates, whose pub was sold to Admiral Taverns in March, said: "I complained to Greene King, but they didn't want to know."

Greene King's David Elliott, managing director of the leased and tenanted division Pub Partners, said making a comparison with the company's managed pubs was unfair, as the two divisions were run using different business models.

Elliott said: "Pub Partners' strategy is to provide the best tenants a low-cost entry into the pub industry and to ensure that both they and Greene King make a reasonable profit."

He added that, as part of the company's commitment to giving tenants a fair deal, rental income at the division's 1,300 pubs averaged a lower-than-industry-standard figure of 11% of turnover.

Solicitors Maitland Walker intend to make an official complaint to the OFT on the tenants' behalf within the next month.