Alan Morgan, Abbey Ales, the Star
Punch licensees in Bath — what they told Punch executives and the Morning Advertiser.
Alan Morgan, Abbey Ales, the Star
Background: Multiple lessee Morgan runs mircobrewery Abbey Ales and has two Punch pubs — the Star and the Coeur de Lion — and an Enterprise lease. He is currently running a third Punch pub, the Assembly, on a tenancy-at-will agreement with a view to taking over.
View of Punch: "I have had no problems with Punch. I am totally happy. If you are not happy with the deal don't sign. People can't then claim six weeks later they are being ripped off. We have a good arrangement — they let me sell my own beer, but I pay a higher rent."
BRM: "If you don't have a good relationship with your BRM it must be really awful. You've got to have somebody you can go to if something isn't going well. You need someone who is going to listen — that is a problem shared."
Discounts: "All this free-of-tie stuff — I don't support that. What we want is a bit of the discount that these boys get. My beer is sold through the Siba Direct Delivery Scheme (to pubco tenants) at £20 a barrel more than my trade price. And when has a brewer ever sold beer at trade price? So we could do with a bit more discount. More discounts for multiples would be good."
Rents: "Punch offered me the Assembly a few years, but it was a stupid deal. I said: 'Whoever takes that will go bankrupt.' It was £65,000 to go in and £50,000 rent. If it gets to the stage where I think it won't be viable, then I will walk away from it."
