Over 1,130 pubs owned by pubcos have closed

3rd April 2009, 3:22pm

New figures from the GMB union show that 1,131 pubs with freeholds owned by seven pubcos have closed within the last three years.

GMB has said it wants the government to break up pub company cartels charging pub tenants up to 80 pence over the wholesale price of a pint of beer and to stop them driving pubs out of business.

In West Midlands 232 pubs closed making the region the highest in Britain for the number of these pubs closing. It was followed by South East, North West, Yorkshire and Humberside.

These pubs, run by tenants tied to the landlord, are owned by seven pubcos - Admiral Taverns Ltd, Enterprise Inns, Fuller Smith & Turner, Greene King, Marston's, Punch Pub Company, and S & N Pub Enterprises.

In a statement the GMB said: "The 'pubcos' have been driving up wholesale beer prices for their tenants by as much as 8% each year. In the first months of this year, with inflation falling rapidly, Enterprise Inns increased their prices by a further 6%.

"The two main 'pubcos' owe more than £8billion in debt and their accounts show that they need £700million every year, or over £50,000 per pub to service that debt with much of that money going offshore."

Paul Kenny GMB General Secretary said "An unintended consequence of legislation to loosen the tie between breweries and pubs to free up the market for the benefit of consumers has been the growth in pubcos who are operating as a cartel in the industry.

"These pubcos, which own 25,000 pubs, are piled up with billions of pounds worth of debts. They are overcharging pubs by up to 80p a pint to pay the interest charges. It is this overcharging which is killing the pubs and driving them out of business. The 'pubcos' are blaming everyone else for the problem and not looking at the damage they have caused through their own greed.

"Britain's pubs survived two world wars. They cannot survive being made to be cash cows to pay off the debts of the property companies and brewers that so clearly don't have the interests of pubs and consumers at heart."

Steve Corbett, a tied publican who is a member of the Fair Pint Campaign, said: "Publicans tied to 'pubcos' are suffering badly from a combination of high rents and outrageous wholesale prices charged by 'pubcos'. This is causing pubs to close and jobs to be lost at a rate that it is totally unacceptable.

"It was never intended that half of the countries pubs would end up in the ownership of such a small number of property companies. For too long there has been no one standing up for the interests of individual publicans and pub users and the voice of the sector has been dominated by trade associations representing the property companies and the brewers."

Related Articles:

• 24 Nov 2009 - Punch Pub Company puts vegetarian fish & chips on the menu
• 18 Nov 2009 - Enterprise Inns profits fall by 22% during “very testing year” for pubs
• 27 Aug 2009 - Punch Pub Company launches learning programme
• 09 Jun 2009 - Greene King expands portfolio with 11 Punch pubs
• 28 May 2009 - 'Pubcos profit margin nine times more than Tesco'
• 31 Mar 2009 - Sun advert launches 'Text the Chancellor' campaign
• 13 Mar 2009 - Taxation on pubs has gone too far, says Wetherspoon
• 12 Mar 2009 - 30,000 people support local pubs
• 04 Mar 2009 - Record number of pubs closing
• 29 Jan 2009 - Carlsberg lends pubs a helping hand
• 19 Jan 2009 - Pub closures climb towards six a day
• 14 Jan 2009 - Mixed fortunes for Britain's pubs

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