Punch: reject Competition Commission calls
Britain's biggest pubco Punch Taverns has called on the Government to reject calls for a market investigation by the Competition Commission.
Punch said it was "disappointed" with the findings of the Business and Enterprise Committee's probe into pubco power.
"We call on the Government to reject the Committee's recommendation for a market
investigation by the Competition Commission," it said.
The competition authorities have looked at this market a number of times. In particular, the European Commission and the European Courts considered the UK pub tie in detail and concluded that it was not anti-competitive.
"And more recently, the Office of Fair Trading ("OFT") provided evidence to the 2004 Select Committee suggesting that there was no basis for further investigation of the tie.
"The important protection the tie provides to regional brewers, pub companies, retailers and consumers against the increasing market power of multi-national brewers (who continue to consolidate) has also been widely acknowledged during this time.
It added: "If the Government does decide to refer this matter to the competition authorities, we are confident that the outcome will reconfirm the competitive nature of the pub sector once and for all."
Punch insisted it had made progress since the 2004 inquiry into pubco behaviour. "Punch Taverns believes that the British pub is an enduring business model that plays a crucial role at the heart of our communities.
"As a company we believe we have made substantial positive progress regarding our engagement with licensees since the 2004 Trade and Industry
Select Committee report and continue to play a significant role in supporting our licensees through the current challenging economic conditions.
"We strongly believe that the tied pub model provides a fair and equitable approach to sharing risk between ourselves and our licensees, represents a low cost opportunity for entrepreneurs, and has a rightful place in the market."
