BII helps pub tenant secure £30k rebate
The BII managed to secure a £30,000 rebate cheque for a tenant after investigating a code of practice breach by a pubco.
BII chief executive Neil Robertson revealed the success on the website www.buyingapub.com, after accusations that the benchmarking scheme for pubco codes of practices had no teeth.
"Any code breaches that are reported to us are investigated thoroughly and taken to a mutually satisfactory conclusion," said Robertson.
However, the full details of the case can not be disclosed. "Obviously, these cases are highly sensitive and I hope it goes without saying that we handle them with the utmost discretion and in complete confidence. If we didn't do this and in fact we published the details of each case, people simply wouldn't come forward for our assistance.
"I can assure you that we regularly get excellent outcomes for individual licensees. In one particular case recently we secured a £30,000 rebate cheque for a tenant. Where else would you achieve that sort of success outside of the courts? Not many places."
Although the BII accreditation scheme is voluntary, Robertson said that was set to change from 20 June 2010 due to the new British Beer and Pub Association's New Framework Code of Practice on the Renewing and Granting of Leases. "At the same time, we are overhauling the BII benchmarking accreditation scheme in order to extend its scope and ambition," he said.
The BII boss added that the organisation would continue to campaign "for greater transparency, fairer rents, more protection and support for new entrants and low cost dispute resolution".
