Fair Pint — the story behind the campaigners

The Fair Pint campaign group launched its bid for reform on the beer tie and pubco model just over a year ago. On the day of its first major victory, the Morning Advertiser takes a look at the people behind Fair Pint and how events unfolded.

The licensees​

Steve Corbett: Enterprise lessee at the George Canning in Camberwell for nine years. He and Dodds have been at the forefront of the campaign from the start. Corbett is now regularly the spokesperson for the group. He has bought, run and sold well over 100 pubs across the country in his time but claims he can not hold on for much longer at his present pub.

Mark Dodds:​ Scottish & Newcastle Pub Enterprises lessee at the Sun & Doves in Camberwell, London for 14 years. Dodds has been in dispute with S&NPE over the level of rent at the Sun & Doves since September 2005. The passing rent at the time was £54,000 and the original rise to £82,500 was rejected by Dodds. The arbitrator ruled that the rent should be set at £65,000 but Dodds appealed and the case has been in and out of the High Court and rumbles on. He says he is set for bankrupty if S&NPE gets its way over the rent review.

Nicola Francey:​ Nicky is the only woman on the Fair Pint steering Group and is business Dodds' business partner at the Sun & Doves. "We should be given the freedom to shop around and choose the beers we want to sell and find the best prices for us," she says. "The tie system is just morally wrong. You are watching the death of an industry because it is being squeezed so hard."

Mike Bell:​ The founder of he Freedom for Pubs Association, which was borne from the 2004 inquiry, passed on his considerable experience to the Fair Pinters. He is fighting a rent review at his Enterprise-leased Portobello Gold pub in Notting Hill. The dispute centres on whether upstairs accommodation should be disregarded from the trading potential of the pub.

The brains​

Simon Clarke: The chartered surveyor and licensee managed to win a famous arbitration case against his pubco Enterprise and secure a 12% drop in rent at the Eagle in Battersea, London. Clarke runs the pub with Dave Law and gave evidence to the committee. He told the committee, the rent review process was "massively stacked" against the tenant "who probably doesn't have the resources" to take it to arbitration.

David Morgan:​ The scourge of pubcos at rent review time. Morgan, a chartered surveyor and director at Cookseys DMP, has long been famous for sticking up for tenants before Fair Pint wisely enlisted his services. Morgan has been involved in licensed trade property for 34 years and he is a fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). He has literally seen it and done it all over the years — including running a pub. Regularly called on by TV shows, including the BBC Wales Week in Week Out show, to give pub valuations and assess whether rent is set at a fair level. A lot of his work is pro bona.

Brian Jacobs:​ Accountant Brian Jacobs was the driving force, along with the Federation of Small Businesses, behind the 2004 inquiry. He has long taken serious issue with the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) over its failure to implement the 2004 Trade & Industry Select Committee recommendation that the tied tenant should be financially no worse off than the tied tenant in its trade valuation guidance.

The money​

Vince Power: The Irish founder of the Mean Fiddler group predicted at the start of the campaign that it is "the beginning of the end for the pubcos". He has 12 bars and restaurants in London including at least two Enterprise leases. He sees the debate simply as "either beer should be cheaper for licensees, or the rent should".

Karl Harrison:​ Harrison jumped on board and is believed to have matched Power's funding in the Fair Pint campaign. He made his money in property and currently has four pubs including an Enterprise lease, the Bedford in Balham. The Bedford is a well-known live music and entertainment pub.

Other influences​

Inez Ward: Not a steering group member of Fair Pint but the one-woman whirlwind has certainly played her part in highlighting the plight of tied tenants. Ward, Enterprise lessee at Mavericks in Newquay, was the brains behind the Pubco Protest march on Punch and Enterprise HQ's in January. Her Justice for Licensees campaign group has over 300,000 members on Facebook and recently secured the backing of trade union Unite for a march on Parliament. The sad fact is that the report comes a week after she was declared bankrupt by the pubco. She faces eviction from her pub on 22 May after twice previoulsy winning stays of execution.

Fair Pint: the rise and rise​

May 2008: The Morning Advertiser reveals that the new group Fair Pint has been formed to lobby for an end to the beer tie. MPs speak out against pubcos at the official launch in Westminster. Later, the Guild of Master Victuallers is urged to back Fair Pint at its annual conference.

July 2008:​ Fair Pint launches confidential on-line questionnaire for tenants.

September 2008:​ Fair Pint supporter Greg Mulholland MP tables an Early Day Motion petition calling for a fresh Competition Commission probe into the beer tie. So far 45 MPs have added their signatures.

October 2008:​ Fair Pint slates the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group's Community Pubs Report for not addressing the beer tie.

November 2008:​ Fair Pint campaigners tell a Bec oral hearing that the pubco model is "outdated" and the tie is hastening pub closures. The group asks the OFT to investigate the level of discounts passed onto tenants.

February 2009: ​Fair Pint backs Mulholland's new All-Party Parliamentary Save the Pub Group, which wants the beer tie to be reformed.

April 2009:​ BBPA accuses Fair Pint of "guerilla tactics" that got Government off the hook and paved the way for the alcohol duty rises. All-Party Beer Group chairman John Grogan says the group is a "player" in the pubco/tenant debate.

May 2009: ​Fair Pint says more than 120 MPs are to attend its Parliamentary lobby day on 20 May. On the eve of the Bec report's release, Enterprise boss Ted Tuppen writes to every MP accusing Fair Pint of The Fair Pint campaign of "damaging the whole industry in pursuit of their own self interest". Pubco report is released and seen as a victory for the group.