Rent concessions come at price of openness, says Tuppen

Enterprise Inns' chief executive Ted Tuppen said any of his company's lessees is entitled to ask for a rent concession, but warned they must be prepared to open up their books to the company in return.

As he highlighted the £1.4m the group spends on beer discounts and rent concessions per month, Tuppen said "anyone is entitled to ask their regional manager for a discount or rental concession".

However he added that Enterprise Inns was "entitled in to ask in return to see the pub's accounts, its stock-taking records and so on".

Support would be given where appropriate, Tuppen said, but that looking for and providing such evidence is what would be expected of a well-run business.

"Where they won't show us these things they are completely destroying their case. We all know trade is difficult but why should we make a discretionary discount available if they are not prepared to share this with us?" he added.

At the very least a pub should have a trade accountant, Tuppen argued.

The Enterprise boss also poured scorn on the suggestion that the group was facing a looming financial crisis.

"We have a fantastic financing structure that people would cut their right arm off for."

Tuppen said that Enterprise wasn't selling off its best pubs to pay down debt, rather it was off-loading underperforming sites.

The group sold 150 pubs in the first half of the current financial year for £44m gross, "slightly ahead of book value".