GMV chair rules out FLVA merger - for now
Alex Frear was speaking exclusively to the Publican’s Morning Advertiser after the annual GMV conference in Ramsgate, Kent, last week.
“There’s been a lot more co-operation between the two [organisations],” he said, “It just gets people singing off the same hymn sheet.
“We’ve never gone that far, as such [for a merger] and I think it’s important to realise that things are changing and they are changing fairly quickly in the way we operate.
“We don’t rule anything out but it’s not something that’s been specifically been discussed as such. Never say never.”
Frear also said that the GMV has noticed fewer members at the meeting, but an increase in the number of queries it receives from licensees who need assistance.
He said: “What we’re finding - and this is across the board - people turning up to meetings and actually going to their local LVAs is on the decline, quite sharpish, but what isn’t on the decline is the amount of emails and calls we receive from people that are in quite serious trouble and need assistance so we need to address that and look how we operate as an organisation.”
Frear added that over the next 12 months, the GMV will be “looking at ways forward for us as an organisation, how we work with others and best practice”.
This will be in addition to dealing with the outcome of the Government’s consultation on a statutory for pub companies and their tenants.
