Enterprise wades in on pub closures row

The row over pub closure figures rumbles on with Enterprise claiming the GMB union figures are "inaccurate" and "highly misleading".

Last week, the GMB union said that a total of 1,131 tied tenanted pubs owned by seven pubcos have closed in Britain since December 2005. It urged the Government to break up the beer tie and let licensees buy beer cheaper.

The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) put the figure at 853 for the same period and said the figures showed that 75% of closures were not among the seven major pubcos.

Enterprise claims the figures show the robustness of the tied model. "We reject and challenge the assertions made by the GMB," said an Enterprise spokesman.

"They are in many cases, inaccurate and highly misleading.

"The facts show that the closure rate amongst the tied pubs owned by the group of seven pubcos is one third of that amongst pubs not owned by these companies.

"This is hard evidence that the tied pub model has served to support pubs, especially in these difficult times, not to accelerate their closures as claimed by the GMB."

It added: "At Enterprise Inns, we are proud to support our licensees during these difficult economic times. In the 18 months to September 2008, over 1,800 pubs received financial assistance in the form of discounts and/or rent concessions, at a cost to the company of £12m.

"Since September 2008, we have spent on average £1.4m per month, help that tenants would be unlikely to get from any bank manager or property company."

However, Fair Pint campaigner Steve Corbett hit back: "To deny that the way that pubcos have squeezed tenants with massive increases in beer prices and unsustainable levels of rent has anything to do with pub closures beggars belief."

Consultants CGA, which compiled the closure figures, said the BBPA uses a net figure: the number of pubs open in December 2005 minus the number three years later while the GMB data is the gross figure, taking into account disposals by pubcos over that period.