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Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Facebook http://apps.facebook.com/causes/view_cause/32953?m=4533475&recruiter_id=3435535

1. Pub Tenants should pay fair market rent
2. Should be free to stock whatever beers they want and negotiate prices with the
supplier
3. Cut out the middle man; curb the PubCo's greed

This affects everyone who ever visits a pub in the UK, forces publicans to charge more for beer than they want and still not make enough profit to keep their business viable.

To give people who don't know anything about this an idea of what it's all about, I reckon (informed reckon) that this situation puts between 30p and 40p on every pint sold in the UK. Further illustration, just look at the prices supermarkets sell bottled beer for - typically on offer at £10 - £12 a case or around 46p per bottle including v.a.t. Publicans like me have to buy their bottled beer wholesale through the TIE, typically at £1 per bottle PLUS v.a.t. If we bought the beer from the supermarket we'd make 50p per bottle more. But if we do that, we are in breach of our lease and will be kicked out of the property.

Few people understand or even know that a few giant Pub Companies (PubCo's) own the majority of all pubs in Britain which they rent (lease) to individuals who run them on a mixture of blood sweat, tears and their own financial investments.

Enticed by the PubnCo's to 'run your own business'; to 'be your own boss'; 'be an entrepreneur'; 'see the fruits of your own labour' while running your own business.

It doesn't work out like that very often. The PubCo's business is selling these people the PubCo's beer at inflated prices; pushing up rents at every opportunity while investing as little as possible and squeezing as much out of the tenants as feasible. There is no down side for the PubCo's - they either get their rent or the tenant goes out of business. When the tenant goes out of business there's a queue of new, naive, eager entrepreneurial people with cash from remortgages, business sell offs, retirement packages or a dozen other sources, who are more than willing to be their own boss and entertain people their way, in some romantic sense expecting to be able to do it better where others have failed... a long, story that seems never to end.

If you read this and feel like joining, please invite all your friends to sign up as well. This situation has been getting worse for the last twenty years. It's got to stop! Publicans can't make a legal, fair and decent living out of their hard work - and they have to over-charge to break even... What's that all about?

Now's the time to bring it to an end! Your opinion, your support, can make this happen! Look at how many people have joined some of the other causes that don't affect everyone who likes a pint! 1000,000 of us can't be wrong!

Go on, invite as many friends as you can! Thanks Guys. Another national petition here: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Pubcos/

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