PCA ‘committed to ensuring tied tenants know about code rights’

28-Mar-2022 - Last updated on 28-Mar-2022 at 09:39 GMT

On the road: pubs code adjudicator Fiona Dickie and the team attended a number of events this month (March) in a bid to raise awareness of tied tenants' rights

The pubs code adjudicator (PCA) Fiona Dickie has said she is “committed to ensuring tied tenants know about code rights” after finishing a week of events to help raise awareness of the pubs code.

This included the PCA’s ‘Your Pub, Your Rights’ event on Wednesday 16 March at the Briton’s Protection pub in Manchester city centre, which coincided with their attendance at the Northern Restaurant & Bar Show at the Manchester Central Convention Complex.

The decision to hold the PCA’s dedicated event came after research found tied tenants in the north of England were using their market-rent-only (MRO) option rights less than those in the south east.

Dickie spoke to a mixed audience from across the tied trade about how the pubs code works and outlined what she is doing to aid compliance.

Event details

This was followed by a panel discussion with Northern-based industry spokespeople The Business Planner’s Tim Bennett and Tony Hunter from Savills.

The panel discussed changes that have taken place as well as the realities of the MRO process.

The PCA team then went to SIBA’s BeerX event in Liverpool, before moving south to the Pub22 show at the ExCel in east London this week where on Monday 21 March, Dickie spoke and took audience questions.

Raising awareness

Dickie said: “I am committed to making sure tied tenants know about their code rights and feel confident to use them.

“I want to reach all regulated tied tenants across England and Wales, particularly the harder to reach small operators.

“It has been great to meet tenants and industry professionals over a busy week of events and hear their experiences of the pubs code in practice.

“I continue to look for innovative ways to raise awareness of these important legal rights.”

Earlier this month (Thursday 24 March), The Morning Advertiser reported changes to the code, including more time for MRO negotiations will be into force from Friday 1 April.