Greg & Ted clash over RICS...again

14-Jul-2011 - Last updated on 27-Aug-2011 at 09:44 GMT

Tuppen (L) and Mulholland (R): no love lost

Pub campaigner Greg Mulholland MP and Enterprise chief executive Ted Tuppen have clashed for a second time over RICS compliance.

Pub campaigner Greg Mulholland MP and Enterprise chief executive Ted Tuppen have clashed for a second time over Enterprise Inns compliance with Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) guidance.

In a letter written to the chair of the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee (BISC) Adrian Bailey on Monday, Mulholland expressed concern with comments made by Tuppen regarding Enterprise Inns compliance with RICS guidelines. He accused Tuppen of making "contradictory statements".

Tuppen responded by suggesting Mulholland "may have misled" the committee by "leaving out" some of paragraph 7.21 of the RICS guidance.

Now, Mulholland has written a second letter to Bailey responding to the "ludicrous allegation" made by Tuppen.

He claims he is "seeking advice" on the matter and claims Tuppen's allegations are "absurd and utterly disgraceful, considering that I clearly and accurately quoted the relevant sections from the RICS guidance."

In the letter, he also said: "The fact that he (Tuppen) incorrectly believes that RICS guidance states that comparisons between tied tenants and free-of-tie tenants are about as relevant as between tied tenants and fish-and-chip shops, really says it all.

"Mr Tuppen's accusation that I have apparently in some way being misleading seems to be something of a diversionary tactic away from the main issue, a tied tenant should be no worse off than a free tenant."

Somewhat bizarre

Tuppen has responded claiming to "find it somewhat bizarre" that Mulholland copies all his correspondence for publication in the Publican's Morning Advertiser. He added: "In our opinion, we find this rather insulting to the committee.

"Mulholland is not RICS qualified and his rather confused letter displays a number of misunderstandings of the RICS guidance, which again he quotes selectively to match his arguments."

Tuppen said it is "unworthy and silly" of Mulholland to suggest that Enterprise Inns believes that the tied tenant should be no worse off than the free of tie tenant.

He said: "We simply accept the RICS guidance which, in our view, states that it is difficult to compare tied and free of tie pubs and therefore a valuer should make comparisons between pubs on similar terms."

He suggested that Mulholland read paragraphs 5.140-5.159 of the Office of Fair Trading response to the CAMRA super complaint where it concluded that there was no evidence to support the notion that the tied tenant was worse off than the free of tie tenant.