The newly-formed Pubs Governing Body (PGB) admonished Tuppen after he told delegates at the Tenanted Pub Company Summit in June that the company paid compensation of between £5,000 to £6,000 in the first two PICA-Service cases it lost.
The PGB, which was set up on 3 July, said the actions of the Enterprise boss undermined PICA-Service and risked bringing the self-regulatory regime, and the industry, into disrepute. It also claimed that disclosing confidential information not only breached PICA-Service protocols but was also itself in breach of the spirit of the Industry Framework Code and Enterprise’s own code.
In a letter to Tuppen, PGB chairman Bernard Brindley said he said the body took a “dim view” of the “unacceptable” breaches, and warned that further breaches of this nature would result in the board of the PGB referring the matter to BIIBAS, with “the company’s accreditation at risk”. The letter called for a full and unreserved apology and a retraction.
Brindley told the PMA: “The board of the PGB was unanimous in the need to act on the issue of these breaches by Mr Tuppen and Enterprise Inns.
“It is disappointing that the first act of the PGB should be to address these very serious breaches, however it also demonstrates part of the authority and remit of the new body, which is to act unilaterally when required to, such as is the case here, without requiring any action to be first triggered by a third-party complaint. This is an important distinction for new live body, which is now overseeing and governing the pub industry’s self-regulatory regime.”
Tuppen said: “Following a formal speech that I presented at the Tenanted Trade Summit, supporting the Voluntary Code and praising PIRRS and PICAS, I made a passing reference to the approximate quantum of the awards made against Enterprise. This was in response to a question during the unscripted Q&A session. I have always supported PICAS and it was certainly not my intention, in answering the question, to undermine PICAS in any way. If my comments have been interpreted by some as a serious breach of confidentiality, then I apologise to PICAS unreservedly.”
What is PGB?
The PGB is a new independent body established to oversee the entire self-regulatory regime including:
• The Pubs Independent Rent Review Scheme (PIRRS)
• The Pubs Independent Conciliation & Arbitration Service (PICA-Service)
• The Industry Framework Code
It will set the protocols and principles of the entire self-regulatory regime and ensure regulatory oversight. Prior to its formation, the PIRRS Board, which previously had been responsible for overseeing the self-regulatory regime, wrote to representative licensee groups inviting them to put individuals forward to sit on the new regulatory board. The individuals that will sit on the board in addition to Brindley, who will serve as chairman, are:
Representing lessees and tenants
• Martin Caffrey, Federation of Licensed Victuallers Associations
• Nick Griffin, Brighton & Hove Licensees Association
• Tim Hulme, British Institute of Innkeeping
• Kate Nicholls, Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers
• Bill Sharp, Guild of Master Victuallers
Representing pub-owning groups
• George Barnes, Shepherd Neame
• Mike Clist, Fuller’s
• Martin Rawlings
• Brigid Simmonds, British Beer & Pub Association
There remains one seat available on the board of the PGB, which has written to all groups representing licensees including Fair Pint, the independent Pubs Confederation, the Federation of Small Business and trade unions.