MPs have voted to force the big pub chains to allow their tenants the option of buying beer and other stock on the open market and not just from the company that owns their pub. Pub landlords will also be able to ask for an independent rent review. This has been welcomed by the Campaign For Real Ale, which says it will ‘keep pubs open and ensure the cost of a pint to consumers remains affordable. The large pub companies will no longer be able to charge their tenants prices up to 60 pence a pint higher than open market prices.’ However the British Beer & Pub Association, which represents the large pub companies, said the change is bad news for the industry and that it would ‘hugely damage investment and result in 1,400 more pubs closing, with 7,000 job losses’. The news triggered large falls in the share prices of Enterprise Inns, Greene King, Marston’s and Punch Taverns. The MPs’ decision could yet be overturned by the House of Lords.
