The BII has expressed its "disappointment" over claims by the Business and Enterprise Committee (BEC) that lessees have very little confidence in it because of a conflict of interests.
BII chief executive Neil Robertson slammed the claim as a "sweeping remark" based "only on the opinions of a few". He said that membership levels had held up well through 2009, which showed its true level of support and the BII's value.
He denied the body was unduly influenced by its relationship with pubcos. "It appears that the committee has a misunderstanding of how BII operates," he said. "We are the professional body for the licensed retail industry and, as such, it is right that we have close involvement with all influencers within the sector."
The report into pubco power welcomed the BII's independent expert determination service as a fixed cost way to resolve rent disputes but was "astounded" that action had not been taken since the 2004 inquiry — although the BII was not involved in the debate until recently.
"BII is pleased that its proposals for an independent expert determination scheme have been met with such approval from the BEC committee," said Robertson. "We believe that this is a vital service and one which will lead to a valuable improvement in the way in which rent reviews are finally determined where other means have failed to reach a mutually acceptable outcome.
"We must stress that this work is outside BII's charitable remit but has been conceived in response to members' needs. BII is acting as a facilitator to bring the scheme into being for the overall benefit of the industry. Several meetings have taken place involving various key stakeholders to discuss the aims, objectives and logistics of the scheme and plans are progressing well."
Robertson also responded to claims made that one lessee had asked the BII to investigate Enterprise's code of conduct on two occasions without reply.
"We stress that BII answers every single request for advice or investigation relating to breaches of the code by signed up members," he said. "We are not aware of any letters that have remained unanswered but are concerned to hear this and will investigate accordingly."
On-going debate
He added: "The debate surrounding rent will continue for a while. BII believes this is a good thing and is happy to facilitate discussions — an industry which can hold a debate with itself is a mature one and this is an important point to note.
"The licensed retail industry has many strong and authoritative voices with considerable years of experience between them. It is clear from the feedback BII receives that rent is a sensitive yet key issue for its 15,000 members so it is imperative that these discussions happen with integrity and professionalism. BII will continue to work hard to bring all parts of the industry together for our common purpose."