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News Article Comments : OFT will take no further action on pubcos
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) will take no further action following the Campaign for Real Ale's (Camra) super-complaint over pubcos and the beer tie.
The OFT said it had "not found evidence that supply ties are resulting in competition problems that are having an adverse impact on consumers".
In its eagerly awaited response, the OFT said there was "generally effective competition" between pubs and it did not believe that the beer tie contributed to higher prices or prevented pubs offering wider choice to customers.
In its super-complaint, Camra hit out at tied beer prices for tenants and the "flawed" system of setting rents.
It also urged pubcos to offer licensees greater access to local beers and for a law preventing pubs being sold with restrictive covenants. However, Camra urged the beer tie itself to remain.
But the OFT said: "The OFT has received submissions from pub lessees outlining their concerns about the rent assessment process and their negotiations with pub landlord
22 Posts(s) found for this thread: Now displaying page 1 of 3
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Dave Mountford 22/10/2009 07:47:29  |
RE: OFT will take no further action on pubcos Clearly this has justified Peter Luffs comments in the BRC report and I look forward to his comments. We should view this as a positive in that it is clear that the Government should act now to intervene, especially as mediation has broken down. All this has done is backed up the BEC report - remember that before everyone despairs ! This post replies to this thread |
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| stephen morton 22/10/2009 07:56:04 |
RE: OFT will take no further action on pubcos Dave you are absolutely spot on. But I still cant help feeling that I have just been kicked in the teeth. To think the OFT found nothing in my view is incredible. This post replies to Dave Mountford > RE: OFT will take no further action on pubcos |
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info man 22/10/2009 08:03:24 |
RE: OFT will take no further action on pubcos Well said Dave, the oft just dont understand that the consumer ends up paying more. The only reason this has been allowed to continue is because tied publicans have taken the hit and not the consumer. Questions need to be asked of the Oft given the information they were supplied and their effectiveness as an organisation. Seems like the courts and direct action are the only way to get this mess sorted out. This post replies to Dave Mountford > RE: OFT will take no further action on pubcos |
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| Dave Mountford 22/10/2009 08:14:21 |
RE: OFT will take no further action on pubcos Clearly this has justified Peter Luffs comments in the BRC report and I look forward to his comments. We should view this as a positive in that it is clear that the Government should act now to intervene, especially as mediation has broken down. All this has done is backed up the BEC report - remember that before everyone despairs ! This post replies to this thread |
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| Stephen Docking 22/10/2009 08:15:47 |
OFT will take no further action on pubcos Perhaps now CAMRA will realise that this was nothing more than an un-necessary distraction away from the findings of the BEC Report. What did CAMRA ever do to help licencees, anyway? They are a consumer group. Maybe we can now get on with the business of putting the pubcos and their 'partial' truth in evidence to the BEC, squarely in front of the Competition Commision. This post replies to this thread |
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| Dave Mountford 22/10/2009 08:31:05 |
OFT will take no further action on pubcos Steve - It was a calculated risk by CAMRA - at the time I was annoyed that they had put the process at risk by shooting too early and missing, but I have come to believe it was a genuine attempt to move things quicker. Time will tell the real reasons but either way this is a small setback following the RICS bombshell last week. This post replies to Stephen Docking > OFT will take no further action on pubcos |
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| The Crocodile 22/10/2009 08:41:23 |
RE: OFT will take no further action on pubcos I wonder how many people will see this as another kick in the teeth for tied tennants and call time on their stay in the industry. You are forced to buy over priced beer from a supplier whom which you have no choice at a price 30-40% higher than a local supplier. How the OFT see thay as not having an impact on cunsumer price over the bar is mind boggleing! What is our next hope? Or is time for those who are on the edge who have lost virtually all their enthusiasm for the lifestyle along with their life savings to just chuck the keys in. Does anyone else think that this will add recruits to the beercot? This post replies to this thread |
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| Chris Wright 22/10/2009 08:32:54 |
OFT will take no further action on pubcos i thought the BBC breakfast interview with Greg Mulhollund had it about right, in my early morning fog over first cuppa of the day i understand that the OFT acknowledge there was unfairness with ties but because there is more than 1 pubco running such ties then there is competition which is....err....fair thats about it, turn to p94 for more details OFT not really sure why anyone bothers with them they are just toothless lions, one non-ex board member Lord Blackwell company got fined millions for ripping off consumers by price fixing & bid rigging the other week, still sits on the board. This post replies to this thread |
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| Chris Wright 22/10/2009 09:02:30 |
OFT will take no further action on pubcos double post edited by: Chris Wright at: 22/10/2009 09:02:43 This post replies to this thread |
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| Matthew Evans 22/10/2009 09:58:27 |
OFT will take no further action on pubcos Surely this exposes the error of tenanted representative bodies getting into alliances with pressure groups who’s interests don’t coincide with theirs. CAMRA is a consumer pressure group who’s focus is on the preservation of cask conditioned beer and as such I am a fervent supporter. As a publican it is a marginal product accounting for less than 10% of beer volumes and less than 5% of pub turnovers. SIBA represents a fraction of this and is soley representative of producers, The GMB represents employees, is dedicated to greater to regulation and mandatory training and their interests are diametrically opposed to those of self employed business people. The ALMR represents managed multiple retailers and whilst this certainly means their interests are more closely aligned to pubco tenants their membership is generally in a far stronger position than your average pub tenant. The OFT when considering a super complaint only has a remit to ensure competition from the point of view of a consumer and that patently is not being infringed by the tie. You only have to walk down the high street to see clearly that there is cutthroat competition between beer retailers and the price of a pint is decreasing in some areas. You are self employed business people, band together with others of similar ilk, stop being distracted by others with different agendas. This post replies to this thread |
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