Wetherspoons hopes to cut red tape with council link-up

JD Wetherspoon has signed up to a "groundbreaking" partnership with a local council, designed to cut red tape for the managed chain across the UK.

The Primary Authority partnership is for companies that operate across more than one local authority - and allows it to work with one council.

Wetherspoons has chosen to work with Reading Borough Council, which will offer it a single point of contact for issues such as health and safety and food hygiene.

A council spokesman said it would advise Wetherspoons on "all applicable laws" in its pubs across the UK.

As part of the partnership, Reading will prepare a national inspection plan.

This will give guidelines to other councils on the way the company should be inspected - aiming to minimise unnecessary checks and tests.

The council spokesman added: "This will reassure other local authorities that the company is broadly compliant, is managing risks effectively, and these should reduce any enforcement burden on the business.

"JD Wetherspoon has four outlets in Reading and we will work with them to make them show pieces of the company's estate."

Wetherspoon spokesman Eddie Gershon said: "The new partnership agreement should enable us to concentrate more on our business and less on red tape, whilst at the same time adhering to all the relevant legal standards."

The partnerships were introduced in April 2009 and are run by LBRO, a non-departmental public body, accountable to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) through the Better Regulation Executive.