Charles Wells commits to AWP reform
Charles Wells Pub Company is promising a fairer deal on machine income for its tenants.
The operator will still share the income with licensees but will no longer take machine earnings into account for the purpose of rent calculations.
The move follows an attack on pubcos by industry expert Phil Dixon at the Morning Advertiser's Tied Trade Summit.
He compared some tenanted pub companies to Dick Turpin in relation to the machine tie — "taking with both hands" by rentalising AWP earnings.
In the case of Charles Wells he said it comparable to finding out "Mother Theresa was running an escort agency from the back of the convent".
A Charles Wells statement said: "Charles Wells Pub Company has reviewed its machines income policy, covering retailer agreements on Amusements with Prizes (AWP), Skill with Prizes (SWP), Pool tables and Jukeboxes.
"As a result it's announced that whilst it will continue to share machine income, the licensee's income from all of these machines will not be taken into account for rental calculation purposes.
"The company's code of practice will now be amended to reflect this position, in consultation with the BII Benchmark and Accreditation panel."
Last week, Punch Taverns became the first tenanted pubco to promise its tenants a better deal on AWP machines following the highly critical Business and Enterprise Committee (BEC) report.
Punch said it would stop rentalising machine income and offer a reduction in the rent of AWP machines at a cost of around £2m to the company.
The BEC report called for a complete end to the machine tie. It said: "We remain unconvinced that the benefits of the AWP machine tie outweigh the income tenants forgo and we recommend that the AWP machine tie be removed."
