GMB union urges end to beer tie

A total of 1,131 tied tenanted pubs owned by seven pubcos have closed in Britain since December 2005.

That's according to a new study commissioned by the GMB union, which is urging the Government to break up the beer tie and let licensees buy beer cheaper.

The union has published a statement with the anti-pubco Fair Pint campaign that blames rents and the beer tie for recent pub closures.

The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), which represents tenanted pubcos, has asked to meet the GMB and said: "The tie has nothing to do with pub closure rates."

GMB general secretary Paul Kenny said: "An unintended consequence of legislation to loosen the tie between breweries and pubs to free up the market for the benefit of consumers has been the growth in pubcos.

"These pubcos, which own 25,000 pubs, are piled up with billions of pounds worth of debts. They are overcharging pubs by up to 80p a pint to pay the interest charges. It is this overcharging which is killing the pubs and driving them out of business. The pubcos are blaming everyone else for the problem and not looking at the damage they have caused through their own greed.

"GMB are calling on the government and MPs to revisit this legislation.

"Britain's pubs survived two world wars. They cannot survive being made to be cash cows to pay off the debts of the property companies and brewers that so clearly don't have the interests of pubs and consumers at heart."

Fair Pint campaigner Steve Corbett: "We welcome the GMB's involvement in the fight to save pubs and jobs."

BBPA director of communications Mark Hastings said: "We would be delighted delighted to meet with the GMB so they get a balanced picture of what's happening in the UK pub market.

"Those numbers emphasise the point we've made, that over 75% of closures, based on those numbers, are not among the major pub companies.

"It emphasises our point that the tie has nothing to do with pub closure rates across the UK, and highlights the points we've consistently made that tax and regulation are the burdens effecting and closing pubs at present."

The data from CGA shows the West Midlands had the greatest number of closures (232) in the period, followed by the North East (137), the South East (149), Yorkshire and the Humber (129) and London (113).

The East Midlands was next with 95, followed by Eastern England (73), the South West (64), Scotland (64), Wales (38) and Northern England (37).