However, Greene King has confirmed it has not introduced a new charge on glassware for its partners and has instead streamlined the ordering process so all partners can access the same support.
A Greene King spokesperson said: “We recently introduced a new way of ordering branded glassware for each one of our 1,000-plus leased and tenanted pubs so that all our partners were receiving an equal level of support from us.
“Our partners can order from suppliers directly and we have an allowance set aside to support this.”
One side
Ye Olde Mitre Inne licensee Gary Murphy sent The Morning Advertiser the details of a document issued via a county court claim to Greene King, representing his side of the argument.
Part of the document stated:
On 15 July 2019, the defendant wrote to the claimant by email informing him that the arrangement to provide free branded glasses upon request would come to an end and that only 6 x boxes of 24 glasses will be provided per annum and any requirements above that will be charged at £25 per box.
Murphy said: “People take glasses, people smash glasses.
“The idea that you can fix the price of these boxes for a whole year yet still serve a hundred thousand pints is knowingly under-egging it.
“They're introducing this knowing that most pubs will go through a lot more than six boxes and will have to pay.”
Clarification
Greene King has confirmed it has made some changes to the ordering process but states there is no extra charge.
The pubco has set aside an allowance to support pubs in getting branded glassware as some were ordering via their BDMs and some were not.
This meant some pubs were getting more support than others.
The Greene King spokesman added: “This change has streamlined the process by allowing partners to order from suppliers directly rather than via their BDM, which provides our BDMs and pub centre team with more time to focus on supporting our pubs.”
The new process aims to provide all partners with the same benefits rather than some using up all the allowance and others getting none.
