OFT: No more action on beer tie

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) will take no further action on the beer tie after today ruling that the beer market is "competitive".

In a statement released this morning the OFT said that consumers benefit from competition and choice between pubs and that this prevents the beer tie from being used to inflate pub beer prices beyond competitive levels.

The ruling backs up an earlier judgment made by the OFT following a super-complaint from consumer group CAMRA. The OFT re-opened its investigation after CAMRA made moves to appeal its decision.

Ann Pope, OFT senior director of goods, said: "'The OFT appreciates how important local pubs are to many consumers and local communities.

"CAMRA's super-complaint has provided a timely opportunity to examine the pub sector, as the beer tie model has attracted considerable attention recently. After carrying out detailed analysis, we have found that the sector is competitive overall and that there is no need for the OFT to take further action at the moment.

"The OFT recognises that many pub lessees are concerned about issues regarding the contractual relationship with their pub-company and we note that the pub industry is taking steps to address some of these concerns. Our focus, however, has been to assess whether the market is working well for consumers."

Last year CAMRA submitted a super-complaint about the beer tie, arguing high rents and tied beer prices are driving many good licensees out of business and stunting competition in the industry.

But the OFT ruled last October there was "no evidence" the tie was having a detrimental effect on consumers.

Keep checking www.thepublican.com for more reaction to the OFT's ruling