Scotland in favour of minimum pricing for alcohol

20 March 2009 by
Scotland in favour of minimum pricing for alcohol

BII Scotland, the professional body for the licensed sector, has thrown its weight behind minimum pricing to combat problem drinking north of the border.

The call, which puts BII Scotland in direct conflict with other trade bodies such as the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR), follows the proposal of minimum pricing by the Scottish Government.

The proposal was followed by a call for minimum pricing elsewhere in the UK by Chief Medical Officer Liam Donaldson, although this was quickly rejected by Gordon Brown.

BII chief executive Neil Robertson said his members are in favour of minimum pricing as it reduces the differential between the price of alcohol served by the on and off trades.

"We don't support the use of promotions based around cheap drinks in any type of licensed premises and would welcome closer parity in the price of alcohol," he said.

Robertson said it was even possible that these measures, fairly applied, could help to attract customers back into pubs.

"A well run, welcoming pub provides an all round hospitality experience which cannot be replicated anywhere else," he said. "We are encouraged that our members sell alcohol in a socially responsible manner already and this measure of professionalism pays off in these difficult times.

However, Mike Tye, managing director at Spirit, the managed division of Punch Taverns, said there were other ways to combat problem drinking.

"Is minimum pricing per unit the answer? I doubt it, it sounds difficult (to implement)," he told Caterersearch. "What we need is a common sense approach."

The ALMR has called for a ban on below cost alcohol sales, rather than minimum pricing, to prevent supermarkets selling alcohol as a loss leader.

Beer group wants minimum price on all alcohol sales >>

Setting minimum alcohol prices won't combat binge drinking >>

Pub company Shepherd Neame unconvinced by merits of minimum pricing >>

By Daniel Thomas

E-mail your comments to Daniel Thomas here.

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

The Caterer Blog](http://www.caterersearch.com/blogs/catering-news-blog/) Catch up with more news and gossip on the Caterer Blog here
[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