STAR PUBS AND BARS
Having completed her investigation, the Pubs Code Adjudicator, Fiona Dickie, found that there were twelve instances where Star, the pub operating arm of Heineken UK, had ‘frustrated the principles of the Pubs Code’. They had forced pubs that were seeking to go free of tie to sell unreasonable quantities of Heineken supplied beer and cider. Star were fined £2 million. That may not sound a lot for a company of their size but here it is the principle that is important.
CAMRA’s National Chairman, Nik Antona, commented, “This is a good and deserved outcome for Star tenants and a landmark moment for the Pubs Code Adjudicator. We are glad that the PCA has used their financial penalty powers for the first time. We hope this will send a clear message to regulated pub companies that they cannot get away with breaching the Code. In this case, the PCA found repeated breaches of the Code in multiple areas. We want to see further investigations from the PCA to make sure that other regulated pub companies are complying. The pub sector as we know it is currently under threat due to the ongoing Coronavirus crisis, and lack of proper financial support from central Government. Pub companies need to be supporting their tied tenants through this, and at a very minimum this should mean fulfilling their basic obligations under the Code. As we see further local lockdowns and forced closure periods, we are again calling on pub companies to do the right thing and cancel rent for publicans that are unable to trade. We are also looking forward to the publication of the Pubs Code Review, which we hope will expand the enforcement options available to the PCA so that they can act more quickly and decisively to clamp down on abuse of the Code in future.”
All of the pub owning businesses (POBs) that are subject to the code (Admiral Taverns, Ei Group/Stonegate, Greene King, Marston’s, Punch Pubs and Star) are obliged to appoint a code compliance officer whose job is to verify that their employer is keeping to the code. The PCA took exception to the job description for Star’s compliance officer specifying that he/she should ‘ensure the Code is interpreted to the commercial benefit of Heineken UK’.
PUBS CODE REVIEW
As mentioned above, at long last the results of the review of the operation of the Pubs Code have been released. Paul Scully, the Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Labour Markets at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, will be conducting a consultation exercise. CAMRA’s view, again as expressed by Nik Antona, was, “While it is good to hear that the Government has published the Pubs Code Review and agree with our assessment that the Code is not working as it should, the proposed course of action falls far short of the changes needed to deliver on the principles of ‘no worse off’ and ‘fair and lawful dealing’ enshrined in the Code. The review stops short of making more enforcement powers available to the Pubs Code Adjudicator and doesn’t recommend the comprehensive changes needed to address operational issues that have arisen since the Code came into force, or to require pub companies to publish information about rents and tied prices in the interests of transparency. We look forward to working with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and to furthering a case for the positive changes to the Code that are being considered as a result of the review. CAMRA will continue to fight for proper reform of the Pubs Code and for the rights of tied tenants across the UK. At a time when the outlook is grim for many pubs and brewers, it’s vital that tenants are supported, rather than subjected to unfair or potentially unlawful treatment. We will also be writing to the six regulated pub companies to ask them to confirm what rent support they will provide to both tied and free of tie tenants in England during the second lockdown period and call on other smaller pub companies and brewers across England to do the same.“
LOCKDOWN
In the meantime, the PCA has allowed the six regulated POBs to miss deadlines under the code during the second lockdown period, 5 November to 2 December. Pub tenants rights are however preserved during this period. This is similar to what happened during the first lockdown, although this time it is only pubs in England that are in lockdown for most of this period, with pubs in Wales having come out of their ‘firebreak’ on 9 November