Trade-instigated price schemes hard to keep'
by Ewan Turney Minimum pricing schemes organised by licensees are proving hard to maintain, according to an exclusive Morning Advertiser survey of six schemes operating in Britain. A scheme set up in Middlesbrough, for example, is on the verge of collapse because larger pub groups are declining to support it. They fear schemes set up by licensees might contravene competition law. Middlesbrough Pubwatch vice-chairman Riaz Hameed said the town's scheme is "hanging on by its fingernails" after several pubs broke ranks. "There was a brilliant chanceof making it work but everybody needs a level playing field," he said. "You cannot expect people to follow it when the man next door does not." The two schemes in Scotland which feature minimum prices as a condition of regular extensions to licensing hours and are overseen by licensing boards are proving much more successful. The Perth & Kinross scheme started with 45 city centre venues two years ago but was later extended to outlying areas. Currently almost all of the 440 licensed premises in Perth & Kinross are on board. "Since we have had minimum pricing in place, there has been no increase in city centre crime when the pubs shut despite the fact that they are allowed to stay open for longer," said Ring O'Bells licensee Ian Conway. The Office of Fair Trading supports schemes run by local authorities, such as the licensing board or police, set up for social policy reasons such as reducing binge drinking. Dundee has also had a high participation rate in its scheme, which began following a price war between two rival operators who were offering a vodka shot and mixer for as low as 29p. A scheme in Blackpool, which sets a minimum price of £1.50 between Thursdays and Saturdays, has been a success after police adopted a hard-line approach 98% of licensees have signed up to it. Supt Andy Rhodes said: "The biggest hurdle was convincing the larger pubcos to sign up. "I said to them that if they didn't co-operate with the initiative that was fine, but I would be after their licences." In contrast, police in Bournemouth have taken a softly softly approach to those ignoring the scheme and it has collapsed. Steve Hudson, owner of Bournemouth's largest nightclub, Elements, said: "We had three meetings with the police explaining that some places had started flouting the policy and said that they would have to react, but they did nothing. "As a result, the situation escalated and other bars broke ranks. At Elements we also dropped our prices and other venues followed." Bradford, Taunton and Aberdeen are set to launch their own minimum price initiatives in the next few months. l See feature p24-25 Schemes unfair'says JDW chief JD Wetherspoon non-executive chairman Tim Martin launched a scathing attack on minimum pricing schemes this week: "Some local authorities have decided that competitive prices in pubs must be curbed to improve behaviour in some city centres. In Aberdeen, for example, a minimum price of £1.75 per pint is being proposed, compared to the average nationwide price for Marston's Burton Bitter in our pubs of £1.29. "It seems hard to target, for example, an elderly real ale drinker with a low income in Aberdeen who will pay more than a stockbroker in one of our Surrey pubs. Licensing authorities such as those in Glasgow, copying successful approaches used as far away as Australia, have instead ruled that there should be no incentives to sell up'. We are in favour of the Glasgow rather than the Aberdeen approach, and, bearing in mind that the percentage of alcohol purchased in supermarkets has risen to its highest level ever, pubs should not be handicapped by random and capricious minimum pricing schemes." How are minimum price schemes faring? Middlesbrough: "Hanging on by its fingernails" Nottingham: "Just been set up" Bournemouth: "Collapsed" Blackpool: "Working thanks to hard-line police approach." Perth: "A total of 440 licensees involved two years after it began." Dundee: "High participation rate
