Tuppen in plea to pubcos
Enterprise chief Ted Tuppen has promised to "push even harder" to encourage other pubcos to insist that anyone signing a lease or tenancy has taken formal advice.
He believes the move would help "defuse" tensions between landlord and licensee, and would be a more productive method than merely giving licensees access to a database of pub running costs as suggested by the Business, Innovation & Skills Committee during its investigation into the beer tie.
He revealed that Enterprise currently pays £250 towards independent advisors for licensees before they sign an agreement.
"I'm going to push even harder now and say that the industry should make it standard that every publican signing an agreement has to have independent advice," said Tuppen.
"I think nearly every [tenanted pub operator] would enforce it. I think there's an increasing agreement that this may be the answer, but this is at a very early stage."
He backs a system of licensee-appointed surveyors, accountants and/or valuers that would operate under the BII (British Institute of Innkeeping) or a similar body. The BII recently launched its 'approved list' of advisors to hosts and pub owners.
BII chief executive Neil Robertson said he agreed with Tuppen that licensees need to ensure they take advice but admitted "we need to do more".
The Pre-Entry Awareness Training (PEAT) course, the approved list of advisors, and the advice service offered by the BII were all moving towards ensuring licensees are informed before they take on a business, he said.
However, Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers' chief executive Nick Bish said: "It is only frustrating that this energy comes after the last round of investigations and the results of the British Beer & Pub Association and Independent Pub Confederation survey, which revealed that there is still so much more left to do.
"It is important prospective licensees understand the law of leases, have transparency over volumes and sales, and use benchmarking to work out their costs."
