Punch tenant awarded undisclosed damages in latest PICA-Service case
Undisclosed damages were awarded to complainant Kevin Banks, tenant of the Sweet Green Tavern in Bolton, after the panel found that the pubco committed breaches of its code of practice in its dealings with him concerning rental issues allied to delays and poor communication.
Costs were also awarded against Punch and Banks was invited to present a claim for his own costs in pursuing the complaint.
Judge Trevor Barber, a lay person, chaired the hearing. The PICA-Service panel was made up of a barrister with operating experience of the licensed trade, two tenants of tied licensed premises, a former brewery estates director and a managing director of a bar and restaurant operating company.
The hearing took place at the Mayfair School of English in London on 15 October. This is the third case involving Punch Taverns.
PICA-Service comes within the auspices of the Pub Governing Body having been formed by six of the industry's leading associations (the ALMR, the BBPA, the BII, the FLVA, the Brighton and Hove licensee Association and the GMV) in order to deliver self-regulation to the tied tenanted pub industry.
