Memorandum submitted by Penelope Waller
Without wishing to labour a point, the price
we as tenants are charged for our supplies is scandalous.
My lease reads "The tenant will buy beers
and ciders from us at discounted prices".
So—one example: Budweiser bottles, Punch
price after discount £26 plus VAT, £29.90 or
£1.25 per bottle. Tesco price £7 for 10 or
£0.70 per bottle.
Draft beers—the price for Hooky bitter
is £85.26—locally it is advertised for £56!
Why is it that a company that owns 10 times
more premises than J D Weatherspoons, (or used to) is unable to
get the same or better discounts to pass on to their tenants?
The economy is something that all businesses have to deal with
and is not the fault of the pubcos.
What they need to justify is the fact that they
state in their lease to supply goods at a discount when in fact
it is actually a premium. Even though I am sure they have got
it legally correct—it states from their price list (we can
all make up a list and call things discounted) what they are doing
is misleading in the first place, immoral in the second place
and overall downright greedy!
There is no other explanation and it is now
time that they accept they were wrong to charge such inflated
prices—not start bleating about putting the rent up for
free of tie, as rent is supposed to be fair market anyway—and
allow their tenants the benefit of their massive buying power
so that we can compete with the likes of JD Weatherspoon and Joe
Bloggs in his freehold down the road! Basic economics tell us
that most things can be bought for a discount relative to quantity.
That means Pubcos buy cheaper than an individual pub owner, it
means that larger pubcos such as Punch and Enterprise buy cheaper
than a company owning 800 premises, it means that you are
cheating your customers-us-and as a result we are suffering.
Yes, you are making some attempts to help—we
recently received a rent reduction, which is great but I fear
not enough.
Wake up and smell the coffee Pubcos—time
for change!
4 November 2009
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