Punch due in court over false barrelage claims

Pubco giant Punch Taverns is to be questioned in court over claims it provided false barrelage information to incoming tenants.

Philip Sambell, Julian Phillips and David Hope invested £90,000 when they took on the lease of the Robin Hood in Sherwood, Nottingham, 2007.

But the three now claim that at the time Punch provided trading figures suggesting the pub was selling 30 per cent more beers than was actually the case.

The full details of the case will be heard in a five-day hearing at Nottingham County starting on Monday.

Sambell, who has 30 years experience in the trade which includes running property company County Estate Management's pub division, aims to prove that they were misled into signing a lease that was based on false figures.

He said: "Our business plan was based on the very limited financial information available from Punch - principally the barrelage for the previous 12 months in the Christies brochure where we first saw this opportunity and from purportedly current barrelage figures we were given in response to our request for historic and current information."

However Sambell said he later discovered the "true" barrelage was actually 30 per cent or 65,000 pints a year lower when Punch gave him access to Brulines data.

"The Brulines data was radically different from that provided by Punch," Sambell said.

Over the last two years Sambell and his co-licensees have attempted to negotiate with Punch to have their rent reduced at the former Spirit pub with no success.

"Even at this late stage we are prepared to sit down and try to thrash out an agreement which compensates us for our losses and sets a level playing field for the future, however even our offer of independent mediation has been refused," Sambell said.

At a preliminary court hearing last year the trio won a partial victory when the court ordered that they be released from their tie with Punch.

A spokeswoman for Punch Taverns said: "It's not possible for us to comment in full at this stage, as we would not wish to prejudice the outcome of the case. However, we are confident that the judicial system will resolve this issue."