Sun backs Save the Great British Pub call
The Sun has launched its campaign to Save the Great British Pub.
The national tabloid paper launched its campaign today on its radio station Sun Talk by host John "Gaunty" Gaunt.
Gaunt, an ex-licensee himself, took calls from pub campaigners Inez Ward and Mark Dodds as well as the Morning Advertiser's Ewan Turney about what makes a good pub and the challenges that are facing pubs.
Gaunt considered issues such as the duty on beer, the beer tie, rents, red tape and cheap supermarket alcohol and how they are leading to 52 pubs a week closing.
"The pub is a place for all to meet — it is the social hub of the community," said Ward.
Ward pointed to the "phenomenal" duty increases on beer over the past two years and the impact of the smoking ban. "Smoking shelters are ridiculous," she said. "They give no protection. Smoking is still legal."
Beer tie
The pubcos also got a bashing in the show. "It is unsustainable. Tenants are working 100 hours a week, can't afford to pay their staff and can't afford to invest in their pubs. Far too many pubcos are taking far too much out of pubs."
She added: "Churn (of tenants) is wrong. The business model is based on the success of the tenants. Without tenants there is no business model."
Fair Pint founding member Mark Dodds, licensee at the Sun and Doves in Camberwell, added: "In a tied pub you are never more than three weeks away from bankruptcy.
"The real problem is the retail price of a pint. I have to pay around twice for my beer as you can in the free of tie market. It's hard to believe."
However, British Beer and Pub Association director of communications Mark Hastings defended the pubcos. "The pub sector needs to get its own house in order and it is fighting hard to do that. They are trying to get better relationships with tenants.
"A lot of pubcos are doing a lot to help with rents. Do they need to do more? Yes, probably. A good pubco relies on good tenants selling good beer. They are all in the same boat."
He added there would be a number of "important announcements" in the coming months regarding the tenant-pubco relationship.
Bureaucracy
Hastings also said the amount of tax and red tape was an "absolute scandal" and said the industry had paid out an extra £600m in duty last year. "The Government must get out of the faces of licensees," he said.
"All this Mr Clipboard is no good at all."
Simon Buckley of Welsh brewer Evan Evans slammed the "constant bombardment" of bureaucracy destroying the industry.
"We are used as a cheap tax collector," he said. "I pay more to the Government a month than I make profit."
He added: "The root of all evils is the over-bureaucritisation of pubs. The only one making top dollar is the Government."
Smoking
Anti-smoke ban campaigner Bob Feal-Martinez said the smoking ban had had a "devastating" effect on pubs, particularly in Wales. He backed calls for licensees to be able to choose whether they are a smoking pub or not. "One party is doing this and that's UKIP," he said.
Lobby group Forest said it was now meeting with licensees in pubs around the country to gather support for reform of the smoking ban to allow a smoking room.
• You can listen again to the show by visiting www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sun_talk/.
