by Tony Halstead Wolverhampton & Dudley has scrapped its 30-year commitment to the full pint. The move is being seen as a major blow in the fight by consumer groups such as Camra to force "full pints" onto the industry. W&D, and in particular its chairman David Thompson, has prided itself on a full-pint commitment to drinkers with oversized 24oz glasses and opposed the decision by the DTI to back the 95% pint last year. Camra said it was disappointed at W&D's decision but is determined its campaign will continue. "We think it is a mistake and customers will react badly because oversize glasses have been a key W&D marketing element over the years," said campaigns manager Mike Benner. The move will be welcomed by W&D licensees who have been serving more beer than competitors, and losing margin as a result. Trade expert Phil Dixon said: "It's a major decision but a sensible one. The consumer has never understood metered dispense. Once the Government decided the head on beer was legal it was futile to continue to deprive their licensees of an increase in margin. The company had backed the wrong horse." The company has claimed the U-turn, which also involves phasing out metered dispense at 200 Banks pubs, was forced on it mainly because of the crisis in the UK glass industry, which has made oversize glasses almost obsolete. But it also claimed new-style beer-dispense systems launched recently by major brewers such as Guinness, Scottish Courage and Interbrew makes larger size containers impractical. The company also blamed an influx of branded glassware from Guinness and other brewers which are predominantly supplied in brimful 20oz glasses. But the high cost of replacing ageing metered dispense systems across the estate is also believed to have influenced W&D. The DTI says it is "minded" to opt for a 95% minimum liquid pint but is still considering feedback from a public consultation exercise which was carried out last year. The company started to experiment with brimful glasses and freeflow dispense in selected pubs last November but never made any official announcement. Now managers across the whole estate have been told the switch to freeflow and smaller glasses is to be completed by June. The company declined to comment this week when asked about the policy change. Five years ago pub operator JD Wetherspoon replaced its entire stock of oversize glasses with brimful measures across its estate. The company said that al-though drinkers were getting a full pint, they were querying the amount they were served because the beer often failed to reach the line on the glass. "We were serving a full pint, but because the glasses were over measure, drinkers were not convinced and our managers were getting a lot of flack. "We spent a lot of time and money advertising oversize glasses, but the message was not getting through," said a spokesman.
