GK's rebel tenants step up bid for fairer prices

Every tenant in the Greene King Pub Partners estate should today be receiving a letter from rebel group leader Meeko Oates urging them to sign up to the fight for fairer beer prices.

One hundred tenants in the Oxfordshire-based group claim they are being forced out of business because they are consistently undercut by the company's own managed houses.

The group, acting under the name GK Tenants Ltd, hopes to persuade the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) that Greene King has a dominant market position under the Competition Act because it owns more than 40% of the pubs in a certain area.

The rebels have already engaged the services of solicitors Maitland Walker, famed for the on-going beer-tie dispute between Bernie Crehan and Inntrepreneur.

The group is down to its last £400 and has included a standing order form in the information pack being sent out. It is thought the initial cost of a complaint to the OFT could stretch to £20,000.

'Taking on a company as big as Greene King will not come cheap, but we think that if all Pub Partners' contribute, we can do it,' said Oates.

'Economists, professional pub valuers and possibly a barrister will need to be instructed by Maitland Walker in preparing the complaint to the OFT. The more powerful the complaint, the more likely it is that the OFT will take notice of it.'

Oates urged tenants to commit as much as they could to the fight. 'If all Pub Partners who receive this letter agreed to pay £10 a month, we would soon have the necessary funding to take the matter forward. We can promise all contributions will be confidential.'

Anyone wishing to receive further information on the group can contact Meeko Oates on 07836 380 543 or by e-mail at meeko@ntlworld.com