Dear Darren and Committee members,

Pubs Code and Adjudicator – Pubco franchise/pub retail models

One of the issues that came up when we attended the oral evidence session on the Pubs Code and Pubs Code Adjudicator was the issue of the increasing use of pub ‘franchise’ style agreements, sometimes also called ‘pub retail’ contracts.

These types of arrangement are becoming increasingly common, and this is something we believe that the Committee should look into as part of its oversight of the regulated pub companies and the pub sector. The regulated pub companies have been using and expanding these kinds of arrangements, taking advantage of the weak implementation of the Pubs Code and lack of meaningful action by the Pubs Code Adjudicator to address key problems and the ongoing imbalance between pub company and pub operator in the sector…