Friday, July 25, 2014

To the uninitiated the pub sector is about going to the pub for a nice drink

It's a SCAM, of course it is. Pubs are closing unnecessarily because their freeholders take all the profit and leave nothing for the publicans. The publican's business fails, the pub closes, the pubco rents it out again, in need of extensive refurbishment it NEVER gets, new publican has all their profit taken by the pubco, this churn goes on until no one is crazy enough to take on the pub as a 'low cost entry into the pub trade', and the pubco flogs it off to be a Tesco local, a betting shop or residential and that is end of pub forever, and ever, and ever. No more community no more local no more traditions, heritage or sense of place. That's gone forever when, had the pub been looked after properly, the way all pub businesses need to be run, it would never have closed.

Behind the scenes of Britain's rural landscape and frenetic built up city centres there's a disease eating into the fabric of society. It's systemic to British culture - it's absolutely everywhere - nowhere is unaffected by the 
endemic rot in our pub industry and, though it is in plain view, in every neighbourhood and population centre from John O'Groats to Land's End, we've been largely blind to its happening, because there once were so many pubs and we've been distracted by lies and deceit and misrepresentations of the pub sector.

In response to this story in the pub trade's only comic, clunkily named The Publican's Morning Advertiser  Here's what one of my fellow licensees, another person who knows what's going on (because he's a licensee) said elsewhere today:

'So let me see, we had a lengthy (Business Innovation and Skills department) BISCOM inquiry, BISCOM result and recommendation, 12 months self regulation trial, review of 12 month self regulation trial. Consultation on a proposed statutory code, proposed statutory code and consultation on proposed statutory code, proposed legislation.

So this must be the consultation on the proposed legislation, to enforce the proposed, consulted and reviewed statutory code, following a review of trialed self regulation, after a BISCOM result of a lengthy inquiry?'

What does this mean? Whitewash in Whitehall is what it is. No MRO = No @FairDeal4Locals




  1. The fundamental flaw in your thesis is that FOT pubs close and transfer to alternative use as well. The pubcos can't be blamed for that.

    There are many reasons for closure. Some closures have something to do with the tie and some don't.

    1. Ha. Typical of your anonymous off the mark sniping.

      There isn't a fundamental flaw - this is not a thesis awaiting verification by a more knowledgeable professor mate, this is all from direct experience and fact. And successive government Select Committees have all agreed with me - when there's been amply opportunity for the pubco's and the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) to deliver water tight evidence to counter these arguments and have failed every time - because it's all accurate. It's YOUR theses that has no substance because it's full of supposition and idle theory.

      For quarter of a century the pub sector has been completely overshadowed by the presence of pub companies that have no interest whatsoever in pubs, beer, community or sustainable business. Their only job is extraction of and maximising profit from as many units they can acquire with other peoples' money (that is why they are swamped by debt) with the absolute minimum possible direct investment by themselves.

      Promoting their tied business model as a 'low cost entry into the market' is the lie that proves their motivation - the pubco's get other people to lend them the money to buy the pubs they then get other people to invest in while the pubco's syphon off all the profit through over renting (proven) and by selling a restricted range of products they don't even handle but for which they take a handling charge which amounts to making more profit from the beer than is made by either the brewer OR the retailer. Clever business model - make more profit than anyone else for doing substantially less than everyone else in the supply chain. Cowboys.

      It is classic asset stripping with private equity sitting in the background. Now the pub sector has been brought to its knees private equity outfits are moving directly to the front and beginning to operate the pubco's from head office instead of by proxy through placemen. IN all of this it is rare to find anyone in the head offices at pubco's who have ever worked in pubs. Funny that isn't it.

      What you're on about is based on sitting in a room and looking at websites. And that's why you're anonymous

  2. My point was very simple - that FOT pubs sometimes close or transfer to alternative use. Obviously such cases can have nothing to do with the tie. It's a short step to suggest that sometimes tied pubs will close or transfer for reasons other than the tie. More shades of grey and less black and white.