Brulines seeks 'some form of approval'
Beer flow monitoring company Brulines wants to establish "some form of approval" for its equipment regardless of whether its services fall under the Weights & Measures Act.
The company has voluntarily entered into discussions with the National Measurement Office to see if there any steps it could take to improve its methodology, calibrating or operating processes following the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee's recommendation that Brulines be officially calibrated.
"Brulines has already worked, and will continue to work voluntarily and openly with the appropriate authorities to establish what, if any, steps might be taken to improve our methodology, calibration or operating processes with a view to establishing some form of approval regardless of whether our services fall under the Weights and Measures Act," said chief executive James Dickson.
He criticised the "erroneous" information on the accuracy of its equipment provided to the recent select committee and voiced on "anti-tie forums".
"Comments relating to the accuracy of beer flow monitoring equipment have been voiced in the public domain on several anti-tie forums and aired in representations to the BISC by those opposed to both the beer tie and certain pub companies who operate and manage such tie agreements," said chief executive James Dickson.
"Brulines believes that much of this comment is erroneous, and the commentary has been heavily influenced by lobbying from those opposed to the beer tie.
"The Group has had open dialogue with the appropriate committees and industry bodies, and in our submission and accompanying evidence to the BISC's second report absolutely refuted the claims made by the anti-tie interest groups.
"This included a supporting statement from Trading Standards who conducted a comprehensive assessment of our flow monitoring equipment and procedures. This review was subject to their independent and strict standards, none of which was paid for by Brulines."
Results
Brulines made 930 new installations for the year to 31 March 2010 — of which 580 were its new i-draught system — with 360 system upgrades carried out. Its number of total installations stands at 22,000.
Its gaming machine monitoring arm, Coin Metrics and Machine Insite, delivered flat revenue of £800,000, delivering a net profit of £100,000 in a "particularly difficult gaming machine market".
Turnover for the year increased 4% to £19.83m across its whole business, which also includes petrol forecourt monitoring, with profit before tax down to £4.04m from £4.62m last year.
