Councils prepare for flood of applications

Councils are preparing for a huge influx of licensing applications in the next few weeks as the final countdown to the August 6 deadline date for conversion gets underway.

While the latest estimates from the government are still that only one in four pubs have put in their applications, many pub companies are preparing to submit applications in bulk.

But there are still huge concerns that many of the country's 20,000 freetraders will not act to protect their grandfather rights.

Speaking at the Local Government Authority Conference in Harrogate last week, John McNamara, chief executive of the BII, said the slow rise in applications was still "a major concern for us all".

He added: "We have consulted with over 200 local authorities on their licensing policies and have offered help to galvanise licensees in their areas to take action now."

The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) claimed pub companies were on track. "Applications are ready and licensees are going through the verification process with their companies," said BBPA communications manager Christine Milburn.

The reason for the delay has been because pubcos were making sure that the forms had been filled in correctly to avoid having to re-submit them and pay again, she added.

She said: "Pubcos and licensees will be trying to eliminate the chances of applications being sent back for minor reasons."

A spokeswoman for local authorities co-ordinating body LACORS said: "We would still encourage people to get in their applications as quickly as possible.

"Local authorities are working hard to process the applications, but it doesn't do anyone any good if they come in at the last minute."

Who's got their applications in?​

• Jeremy Mitchell, marketing director for St Austell Breweries​, said the company had now put in applications for all of its 158 pubs, with most going for some variation. Fifty nine have already been approved, while 12 have gone to hearing.

Punch​ said that 90 per cent of the company's tenants had taken up an offer of a support package for licence applications, but could give no definite figure on how many forms had been submitted.

Pathfinder​, the managed arm of Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries (W&DB), confirmed that applications had been submitted for all 550 of its pubs.

W&DB's tenanted arm The Union Pub Company​ said it had been working in partnership with its licensees to complete the application process, and was confident they would all be in on time.

Spirit​ said its submissions were progressing well and according to schedule.

Mitchells & Butlers​ said it had got 76 per cent of its applications in by the end of June, and was confident that the last few would be made before the August deadline.

Greene King​ said it had paid £1.5m on processing licensing applications, and would have every application for all its managed and tenanted pubs in by the end of July.

Enterprise Inns​ said it was "very pleased with the progress that had been made" among its licensees in submitting applications. However, the UK's largest pub company said it did not want to give specific details as it did not want to turn the process into a competitive issue.