RENTWATCH

Licensee Paul Dearing thought fate had dealt him a cruel hand when Punch decided to more than triple his rent at the Kings Arms in Newport, East Yorkshire.

Punch's three-year review hike from £7,500 to £24,800 hit Dearing like a thunderbolt and appeared to him a huge kick in the teeth after he turned round the village pub's fortunes. "I expected an increase, sure enough, but the figure Punch was seeking just seemed a penalty for success to me," said Dearing.

In just short of three years, wet trade has more than doubled from 120 composite barrels a year to just short of 260 and business turnover is £200,000.

"I've spent a lot of money on interior refurbishments and improvements since arriving here and we have been able to build up the business nicely. We do not serve any food and concentrate on selling beer and developing a community spirit but the new rent demand seemed very poor reward for the work I put in," he said. Dearing revealed Punch refused to budge from its demand despite two meetings with the company.

"All they said was they were sticking to the company's formula of looking for a new rent calculated on figures between 50% and 60% of net profit," he added.

Eventually a compromise was reached, with an agreement for Dearing to switch from a three-year tenancy agreement to a 10-year lease even though the new rent figure would have been £21,000 if he had elected to remain on a tenancy. The 10-year lease involved better discounts on beers and lagers and release from the tie on his pool table and juke box.

Dearing calculates the new beer discounts could save him £8,000 a year - with a further £3,000 saved on site rent. "It's not a perfect outcome but it's better than I feared," he said.

l Is your pubco increasing your rent? Is it decreasing your rent? If you have a rent-based story ring The PMA Team on 01293 610344.