colin1 you need to do more research before criticising Brian Jacobs and his anti tie colleagues. These people have spent years looking dispassionately into the workings of the tie and their assessment that the industry is much weaker than it ought to be because of the tie is accurate, proven and has been taken on board by most trade organisations, consumer groups and government representatives whether elected or civilly employed.

There ARE many other issues adversely affecting pubs as well but they are secondary to the devastating impact that abuse of the tied model has had on our core national pub estate.

The tie cripples sustainability of thisindustry at every level other than at pubco boardroom and it's recently even caught up to those heights.

This has come about through a complicated web of interrelated schemes designed remove profit from everyone except the most powerful.

All the other issues you touch on have been highlighted by the BBPA and the pubcos whenever possible to obscure the pernicious impact of pubcos on the rest of the industry. If you can, watch the whole of the Business Innovation and Skills hearing last week from the Parliament website. You will see clear evidence of the pubcos stalling and stuttering around all the issues of their activities they say are designed to help tenants while they, in fact, harm their businesses... Watch it and reconsider your last post on this thread.