See article here
Adrian Bailey appearing at this so called 'Summit' of self congratulatory back slapping is akin to a Border Collie being called to mingle among a herd of deaf and blind bull elephants with a view to getting them into a corral if any one of them puts a foot wrong.
And, in spite of tougher words being uttered about pubs by ministers like Mark Prisk and Bob Neil, with this government continually turning a blind eye to the activities of private equity asset stripping cultural criminals, change in the pub sector is not going to he happening soon.
Bailey does have the measure of the catastrophic shambles that is the 'self regulated' Tied Pub Sector though. He knows clearly that it's the very 'self regulation' in the 'free market' of the Tied Pub sector that has brought our national pub estate stumbling to its knees unsupported by hands-off government.
This situation continuing as it is will change nothing. It may be difficult to imagine but it's just going to get even worse than it is already - look at our towns and villages and the boarded up pubs now. Soon they won't be pubs anymore. They'll be gone forever with no chance of their communities finding places to errr - commune, outside of church, anymore.
The only tenuous hope for tied lessees is that BBPA fails to stitch up the holes in the emperor's new clothes and the government is shamed into bringing in stringent regulation (very doubtful) or the pubcos' indebtedness is finally identified as Trading Whilst Insolvent and they collapse as the consequence of their own dreadful management - at which point the private equity bottom feeders will get involved on the carcass of a once great British Industry and close the rest of the pubs left that aren't bland, anodyne, characterless barns selling carveries for £3.89 and eat all you can deals so admired by this industry's most erudite analysts.
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