Fresh call for action on supermarket booze deals

A trade group is ramping up the pressure on the government to tackle supermarkets selling alcohol at below cost.

The Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) has met with licensing minister Gerry Sutcliffe and Home Office officials to press for urgent action on "irresponsible" off-trade promotions.

Nick Bish, the ALMR's chief executive said: "We had some extremely positive meetings with the Licensing Minister and Home Office Alcohol Team during which we put forward a number of well-received proposals and urged them to act firmly and decisively to send a clear message to the supermarkets and consumers.

"There has been much talk about 24-hour licensing, but this is only a reality in the off-trade sector."

Bish said the implications of below-cost selling on neighbouring pubs and bars was also brought to the attention of government officials.

"Pubs and bars themselves now face paying 44 per cent more for Carlsberg or Grolsch than their customers can buy it at Sainsbury or Tesco - that cannot be right," he said.

At the meetings, the ALMR also put forward a number of other recommendations for revisions to the Licensing Act Guidance to address this problem, including:

• the presumption of longer licensing hours for supermarkets should be removed from Guidance - currently supermarkets are allowed to sell alcohol at any time when the shop is open
• re-introduce controls on the siting of alcohol displays
• references in Guidance to control of irresponsible promotions should explicitly refer to off-trade offers

Bish added: "These are simple steps which the government could and should take to give a clear signal to the supermarkets that they need to put their house in order - pubs and bars are stamping out irresponsible promotions, it is high time they did so too."