Advancing in the right direction, Marston's style

Marston's Pub Company (MPC) is to be congratulated for taking the bull by the horns and coming up with 'Advance', its new agreement that reflects the sort of pricing structure its brewing arm offers its freetrade customers (see story link, right).

There will doubtless be some, perhaps many, who baulk at the Midlands outfit giving a sizeable discount on beer with one hand and hiking up the rent it charges with the other.

But what else are we to expect? Marston's is a business, not a charity. It wants to ensure its licensees are given every opportunity to succeed, and in doing so make money for itself into the bargain. Where's the problem in that?

In creating the Advance agreement MPC's Alistair Darby is simply addressing what everyone in the industry already knows, that things cannot go on as they are.

In his words the leased and tenanted model as it currently operates in the UK is "creaking". That these weaknesses have been magnified by the damning BEC report is only serving to focus the minds of operators up and down the country.

With things like Advance there will always be quid pro quos, but that said, more has to be done for the people actually running the pubs that generate the income from which large landlords and their shareholders benefit.

The sort of thing Marston's is doing, described by the company as a "risk cushion", is a proactive step in the right direction.

As well as Advance the brewer is also trialling a new pub format under the banner 'Phoenix', which sees participating pubs become part-managed house, part-tenancy, part-franchise (see story link, right).

Such schemes might not be exactly replicated by its rivals, but others will be doubtless looking at how they can create an environment in which the best thrive and the struggling survive.