Protesters: pubcos to blame for closures
Unsustainable rents and high beer prices are the main reason why pubs are being boarded up across the country.
That was the message from pubco protest organiser Inez Ward as she led around 200 licensees in a demonstration outside the headquarters of Britain's two biggest pubcos — Enterprise Inns and Punch Taverns.
Both pubcos refused to accept the open letter, which called for an end to the beer and AWP tie, the removal of upward only rents and transparency in the rent review process. However, Punch did agree to meet with its licensees.
"We did not expect to get an open hearing," said Ward, who runs the Justice for Licensees campaign group as well as the Enterprise leased Mavericks pub in Newquay, Cornwall.
"But there is nothing left except direct action because the pubcos have not listened to our concerns.
"The pubco channels of communication do not work — if they did we would not had to have taken our message direct to the pubco bosses.
"The message is clear — the rent charged by pubcos with tied wholesale supply prices combine to make tied pub businesses unsustainable.
"While the pubcos say that pubs are closing because of Government induced red-tape, duty increases, supermarket prices, demographic changes and the credit crunch, we say that the pubcos are the main reason why pubs are being boarded up all over Britain.
She added: "The rents and beer prices the pubcos charge are so high that the financial viability of a tied pub is so precarious that any economic pressure tips them into bankruptcy."
• Pubco protest: as it happened.
