Statutory code: Campaigners hit back at London Economics report

The report from London Economics said the country probably has c6,000 too many pubs and a sustainable number would be around 45,000.

However, campaigners have questioned the validity of the report.

Save the pub group chairman MP Greg Mulholland said: “The deeply flawed and biased report from London Economics would not not even pass economics GCSE. It displays a fundamental lack of understanding of the leased pubco model and factual errors and conclusions that expose a clear agenda here.

“The question is who is behind the stitch-up and the Save the Pub Group is issuing freedom of information requests to BIS and to the Treasury as well as demanding from London Economics all the data provided to them.”

Fair Pint​

In a statement Fair Pint said: “Government commissioned an economic report, the academics seeking contributions from none other than the pub companies and those influenced by them, ignoring the true tenant groups. Little wonder the reports conclusions seem biased and out of this world to most tenants.

"They conclude 1,600 pubs might be lost if Government legislate - in reality, on the past 10 years statistics of pub closures, we could expect, almost as a certainty, to lose at least 1,400 if they do not intervene.”

Financial distress​
While Tony Leonard licensee of the Snowdrop Inn in Lewes has written a letter to Business secretary Vince Cable claiming the report “seriously underestimates” the number of tied tenants facing financial distress.

In the letter Leonard said: “The report addresses the issue of viability only in relation to the pub owning company. An overrented pub may well be viable for a pubco but if the licensee and family running it are losing their savings and dependent on benefits to get by, then the arrangement is clearly not viable for either them nor the public purse.”

He also raised concern that the assumption is that, given the opportunity to have a guest beer, all licensees will opt for a standard lager from one of the large multinational brewers.

“I’m not saying that absolutely all licensees will seize the opportunity to support local brewers, but I can assure you that all of the best ones will!” he said.