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| Pubs claim freeing tied pub landlords will lead to job losses. Photograph: Corbis |
MPs have voted to free landlords in tied pubs from exploitation by large companies.
The pub companies said Tuesday’s vote could lead to 7,000 job losses and cause nearly 1,500 pubs to close, although others argue it could make it easier for them to stay in business. Pubs are closing at a rate of 13 or more a week.
The defeat in the report stage of the small business and enterprise bill is a setback for the government chief whip, Michael Gove, and an extraordinary victory for the cross-party free pubs campaign, marshalled by the Liberal Democrat MP Greg Mulholland with the support of Labour.
The reform gives 15,000 British pubs the chance to ask for an independently assessed market rent and allows them to buy beer on the open market rather than being tied to one company.
The chief executive of the Campaign for Real Ale, Tim Page,
said: “Allowing over 13,000 pub tenants tied to the large pub companies
the option of buying beer on the open market at competitive prices will
help keep pubs open and ensure the cost of a pint to consumers remains
affordable. The large pub companies will no longer be able to charge
their tenants prices up to 60p-a-pint higher than open market prices.”
But Brigid Simmonds, the British Beer and Pub Association chief executive, said: “This change effectively breaks the ‘beer tie’, which has served Britain’s unique pub industry well for nearly 400 years. It would hugely damage investment, jobs, and result in 1,400 more pubs closing, with 7,000 job losses – as the government’s own research shows.”
The pub companies said Tuesday’s vote could lead to 7,000 job losses and cause nearly 1,500 pubs to close, although others argue it could make it easier for them to stay in business. Pubs are closing at a rate of 13 or more a week.
The defeat in the report stage of the small business and enterprise bill is a setback for the government chief whip, Michael Gove, and an extraordinary victory for the cross-party free pubs campaign, marshalled by the Liberal Democrat MP Greg Mulholland with the support of Labour.
The reform gives 15,000 British pubs the chance to ask for an independently assessed market rent and allows them to buy beer on the open market rather than being tied to one company.
But Brigid Simmonds, the British Beer and Pub Association chief executive, said: “This change effectively breaks the ‘beer tie’, which has served Britain’s unique pub industry well for nearly 400 years. It would hugely damage investment, jobs, and result in 1,400 more pubs closing, with 7,000 job losses – as the government’s own research shows.”
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