Beer tie attacked on Radio 4
Freedom For Pubs Association frontman Mike Bell attacked the beer tie live on Radio 4 earlier today.
Speaking on the You and Yours programme Bell (pictured) said the tie must change if pubs were to survive the current gloomy economic conditions.
"The way it used to work is you had the brewer and the licensee and no-one in between.
"You didn't have a middle man [the pubco] taking out a large chunk of the industry's money."
He added: "We have ended up with property companies owning massive amounts of pubs and they are just squeezing for rent the whole time. There is no let up."
Bell, Enterprise lessee at the Portobello Gold in Notting Hill, said a return to turnover based rents would be welcome. "There is no flexibility in the system," he said.
Pubco support
MA editor Andrew Pring said the pub trade's biggest challenge was to recruit abler retailers but if the support was not there from pubcos it could cause a big problem.
"If people see that running a pub is a difficult business and that people are not making much money at the end of the day, then why would you come in to do it?
"So, the pubcos have to help people and make it more attractive."
Beer tax
Shepherd Neame chief executive Jonathan Neame used the opportunity to plead for fairer treatment for beer in the budget.
"In the last ten years, the Government has taxed beer very hard. It has been made more expensive, which has made the pub more expensive and the supermarkets relatively cheaper.
"That has shifted sales to the supermarkets and shifted consumption away from low alcohol products like beer to high alcohol product like vodka.
"That can't be right. We think it is in the social, economic and cultural interests of the country to support beer in pubs."
