Mulholland seeks free-of-tie clarification

http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/news.ma/ViewArticle?R=90984

Greg Mulholland doesn't miss a trick. As with the appearance of the Will-o'-the-wisp 'free of tie' assertions of all the pubco poodles at at the All Party Save the Pub Group's questions and answers session a couple of weeks ago the response to this is going to be, as ever with all pubcos, vague, blurred, smudged with a lot of pauses and 'ahems' until eventually someone somewhere will say, quietly hoping the Head Teacher won't hear'

"Well actually, no, there is no 'free of tie option' within any of the Codes of Practice. What we offer is a choice of 'free of tie pricing, balanced against a choice of different levels of rent'.

As Roger Whiteside very clearly stated under pressure at the Q&A, his businesses' very ability 'to survive' would come under threat if a genuine free of tie option were made available to Punch tenants.

Read: 'Please, PLEASE, don't make us make a genuine free of tie option available because suddenly everyone in our estate would take it up, they would keep all the profit instead of giving it to us, and we will be down the white rapids of the Swanee rapido' (implication being that another five thousand pubs would close immediately whereas, in fact, they would just do better while a few suits at PunchCo Towers would be on the job market looking for real jobs..

That's even after Punch sells off the 2,300 pubs that are already in the tied beer business model's knackers yard of course they put them in over the last 20 years.

Trebles All Round Chaps, the M&S touch is working miracles.