Ex-tenant's fury as Marston's holds back funds in tie violation row
Rob Bishop, who ran the Anglesey Arms, in Tyn-y-Cae, Caernafon, until July last year, said the pubco had failed to provide sufficient evidence to back up its claim. He plans to take the matter to a small claims court.
According to Bishop, a Marston’s compliance officer carried out a stocktake on his last day at the pub. Subsequently, in an email seen by the PMA, the pubco said there was evidence of “empty unmarked kegs and non-Marston’s keg caps in the cellar”.
Unproven
He said: “Marston’s has withheld £2,361.30 on my final settlement after claiming to have a found unmarked kegs in the cellar and a Vianet deficit. And while they have supplied me with a lot of data, none of it proves their claim.
“To show there is a deficit, they need to provide an opening and a closing balance to check against purchases, but they haven’t supplied this.”
Bishop, who said that up until the problem Marston’s had been a great company to work with, also hit out at the company for taking two months to settle his claim, and for taking so long to resolve the matter.
A spokesman for Marston’s said the matter was still under investigation, and a final decision on the outstanding sum would be made in due course.
Bishop also took issue with Marston’s after it had “misinformed” him on ordering stock for the incoming tenant. He said it left him more than £16,000 out of pocket before the money was eventually paid back.
Misunderstanding
He said: “With it being a busy time of the year, the new tenant understandably wanted to put a large order in. Marston’s told me the cost would be added to his account, but instead, it was taken from mine.”
“I got the money back from the new tenant, but had his circumstances changed anything could have happened. I’ve since told Marston’s that they need to make the situation clear in their guidance document.”
Bishop added: “These problems aside, Marston’s is a good company to work with and I wouldn’t have a problem with dealing with their operations again. I wouldn’t take on another tied pub though – it just wasn’t economically viable.”
