BBPA backs the pub company system

Brigid Simmonds, chief executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, has backed the pub company system of selling beer to so-called “tied” pubs, warning that getting rid of it would be “throwing the baby out with the bath water.”

Simmonds told a committee of MPs that the system under which the larger pubco brewers sold beer to pubs was “great.”

Campaigners have warned that the tied system was leading to a growing number of pubs having to close because landlords could not shop around for cheaper supplies.

But Simmonds told the Business Select Committee that under the system companies invested tens of millions of pounds in pubs to make improvements and try to encourage more customers.

“It would be throwing the baby out with the bath water if we stopped the tied system. It is a great system.”

She added that people could run their own pub by investing just £30,000 under the tied arrangements.

But Steve Kemp, political officer of the GMB union, criticised Simmonds’ comments, saying: “This stonewalling by the BBPA on the serious problems in the pub trade shows what our members are up against.

“Just this week a tied pub tenant in Oxfordshire was evicted with his partner and two small children because he could not pay rent amounting to 40% of his turnover.”

The UK government is consulting on setting up a statutory code for pub companies and tenants.