Enterprise welcomes Royal Assent for pubs code

Simon Townsend, chief executive, said: “Royal Assent brings greater certainty as we continue to work with our publicans and develop ways of working to accommodate the forthcoming statutory code. We look forward to participating in the future consultation to ensure that details of secondary legislation - the Statutory Code itself - are workable and build on the progress made to date”.

In the final stages of the bill in the House of Lords the Government said it would seek to legislate on exemptions from the controversial market rent only option for franchises and companies that invest significantly in their estate.

Deregulation Bill​

The Deregulation Bill, which abolishes the requirement to renew personal licences, also received Royal Assent yesterday.

Jonathan Smith, managing partner at licensing law firm Poppleston Allen, said he expects the Commencement Order, which will specify the date from which this requirement will be abolished, to be passed in the "next day or so".