Marston's free-of-tie option goes live in July

Marston's is introducing a free-of-tie option from the start of next month.

The company already has an agreement, Advance, that offers pricing bench-marked against freetrade.

The new Advance Ultra option will offer existing and future licensees a free-of-tie deal that allows them to shop around in the marketplace.

Marston's would offer an extra £20 to £30 a barrel discount above the Advance prices, in the hope of securing licensees' business.

Advance Ultra would see Marston's wet margin converted into a fixed charge and added to the underlying property rent.

Tenanted division boss Alistair Darby said: "The Advance Ultra lease is absolutely free of tie. But we are offering licensees the chance to buy beer from us at even better prices. The logic is that even though licensees are free of tie, we'd like the opportunity for our beer to be sold by them and there needs to be a strong incentive to buy from us."

The introduction of a free-of-tie lease creates a point of difference for Marston's over Enterprise Inns and Punch Taverns, which are offering free-of-tie prices with beer still supplied by them.

Darby said he was expecting "very low" take up of the new free-of-tie lease because he thinks that most licensees would prefer to keep as many costs variable as possible. He added: "We now have a full range of agreements available to licensees so that they can make an informed choice about what is right for their pub."