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Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Enterprise: pub help fund not enough

Nothing Tuppen comes out with surprises anyone in this trade anymore.

The audacity of this man's commentary on the performance of his own company and the wider landscape of the pub industry used to shock but after publicly dissing MPs as morons and implying that parliamentary privilege is all that stands between a swathe of MPs and a barrage of lawsuits from Enterprise pushed the scales of arrogance to new levels a year or so ago. Since those heights Tuppen's emanations on the industry, although still reliably full of gall, have seemed contrite by comparison.

This said, Tuppen's latest missive from Enterprise Towers, still manages to shock. It is deeply offensive to see the head of a rapacious money making Plc machine criticising a government which has now, finally, begun to get a grip on what has been happening to the pub industry.

This has all taken a long time to come round. TISC, the arrival on the scene of vociferous anti pubco groups, leading to BESC and BISC, CAMRA's supercomplaint and subsequent OFT appeal, RICS revising its valuation methods, Pub is The hub expanding its scope to include urban community pubs, the unprecedented appointment of a new Minister for Pubs followed by a laudable if cautious package of measures to aid the industry at grass roots level.

All these things signify sea changes in the pub industry which Mr Tuppen does not like one bit. So, he cannot resist having a go at government no matter how ill advised, disingenuous and frankly inappropriate.

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