Licensees feeling the pressure

Worrying new figures have highlighted the plight licensees are facing under current tough trading conditions.

The Licensed Trade Charity (LTC) has revealed a 73 per cent leap in the number of licensees seeking emergency financial help.

Last month the charity received 38 applications for aid, compared to 22 in January 2007.

Liz Gaffer, director of marketing and charity services at the LTC, said more and more people were getting in touch.

"We have meetings nine times a year to look at cases and how we can help and these meetings are getting longer and longer," she added.

More concerned licensees have been contacting The Publican over the past week.

Among those were Carol Stokes, licensee at the Red Lion, in Northleach, Gloucestershire, who said her pubco Punch had been "uncooperative".

She claims she only receives a visit every six months from her BRM and feels she is not getting the support she needs.

"I'm ahead with my rent and we are putting in 100 hours a week yet it has the cheek to tell me that we're not showing enough commitment," said Stokes.

Kevin Georgel, operations director at Punch Taverns, disputed some of the claims.

He said: "We are passionate about building sustainable, long-term relationships with our licensees and we take their concerns very seriously.

"We believe in open and honest dialogue and have introduced a number of ways for licensees to talk to us about their issues, including face-to-face discussions with their BRMs, an email address and a formal complaints procedure."