GMV votes for an end to the beer tie

The Guild of Master Victuallers (GMV) will "take all steps necessary" to bring about the abolition of the tie.

At its annual conference in St Leonards-on-sea in East Sussex, the trade body called the tied system "unfair" and added that it had "no place in the challenging environment". The group unanimously voted for the motion to abolish the tie.

It said the "nature and scope of the tie had changed dramatically since the late 1990s", and that it had been extended from "beer only" to "full tie" in some leases.

Speaking to the Morning Advertiser​, chairman Gina Sexton said the GMV would take the issue of breaking the tie, which she described as the most important issue debated at the conference, to the national parliamentary committee within the next few weeks.

Sexton said she would like to "keep the Bec (Business and Enterprise Committee) report at the forefront of the minds" of the 200 MPs who had signed the Early Day Motion to save the great British pub by sending them a press release to explain the situation.

"I think that's the way forward. We need to keep it fresh," she added.

Bill Sharp, member of the executive council, expressed concern that as time was passing, without action being taken, pubcos were bringing out "more and more onerous" leases.

He said that although the GMV agreed that willing parties signed the leases, they were creating a "recipe for disaster" with some licensees "having no chance of making a living at all".