HC 1369 Pub Companies

Written evidence submitted by Justice for Licencees

With reference to the Business Innovations and Skills Committee call for evidence of the relationship between pub companies and their tenants. This is a follow up to the evidence submitted in 2008 with respect to Mavericks Public House, Henver road, Newquay, Cornwall, TR7 3BN and the pub company Enterprise Inns.

1 . Feb 2008 Enterprise Inns carried out a dilaps survey which found no major works. We were harassed, bullied and intimidated by the actions of Enterprise to the point where the BDM had been in the pub the week before throwing his weight around to then be seen the following week stood on the wall of the pub taking pictures. Quite why he found the need to do this is beyond us as he had never been refused entry and we had always been open. During the months of May and June 2008 we were investigated by Environmental Health, Health and Safety, VAT and the Council, all within a matter of a few weeks, nothing was found to be amiss! We then had a visit off trading standards who wanted to go through all of the areas that we had already been investigated for and of course including weights and measures, quite frankly I had had enough and I gave the gentleman from trading standards the relevant documentation from the other bodies asked just what the hell was going on and had they been put up to this by Enterprise Inns. Strangely enough the gentleman blushed quite significantly and of course assured me that that was not the case, I have my doubts! The relationship between landlord and tenant deteriorated even further.

2 . On the 7th May 2009 Enterprise Inns made me bankrupt and they finally succeeded in securing a forfeiture of lease in June 2009, we had a couple of weeks to vacate and my health had deteriorated to such a level that the medical profession were severely concerned for my well being. We lost our home, our business and much of our worldly possessions, including, but far from limited to, my wheelchair (I am disabled due to bulging of the spinal discs which sometimes cause paralysis is the left leg) and my wedding dress, this can never be replaced, Enterprise Inns refused to allow me to retrieve these from the loft, despite a request! We had nothing and had to rely on benefits and emergency shelter from the council. We walked away in some small way thankful that we would not have to tolerate any more abuse, exploitation, bullying or intimidation from Enterprise Inns, or so we thought!

3 . Justice for Licensees, of which I am the founder member, continued to carry out research and gain membership.

4 . During September/October 2010 we were approached by members of the family of a tenant who had lost his life due to a breach of Health and Safety regulations by Enterprise Inns

http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2010/coi-nw-46enterpriseinns.htm

we were also aware of other health and safety breaches

http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/news.ma/article/87505?Ntt=bass+inbev&Ntk=All.

JFL wrote to Graham Edward Tuppen CEO and Simon Townsend COO on the 10th October 2010 asking for clarification if Enterprise Inns had charged dilapidations to previous tenants of these two establishments which covered Health and Safety Issues. Mr Townsend replied on the 16th October 2010, he refused to discuss the above mentioned cases and decided instead to revert to Mavericks. He went into detail on Health and Safety Issues and as can be seen from the attached copy of the emails (1) he was not correct in his assumptions. He was also very clear that both I and my husband had monies outstanding and I quote " As you will be aware, all of the sums owed to the Company by you and Mr Craig Ward remain outstanding .  " As it was Enterprise Inns that had made me bankrupt they had no right to demand monies from me, also under the Data Protection Act they should not have been discussing Mr Ward's finances with me. All I could think was oh no here we go again, a couple of years down the line and again Enterprise Inns are being liberal with the laws of this land and even now are still trying to bully and intimidate. This exacerbated my health problems with my heart to such an extent that I had to seek medical help and it sits on my medical files that the exacerbation was due to a threatening letter from Enterprise Inns. Surely these actions should not be acceptable to any right thinking individual?

5 . Following this I approached Mr Neil Robertson of the BII and asked for his thoughts, I then submitted a formal request to Mr Robertson and the BII to investigate this. Mr Robertson supplied his views, a copy of which is attached (2). I was less than happy with Mr Robertson's reply, I felt that perhaps he was sitting on the fence. Following Mr Robertson's letter I contacted Unite the Union legal advice line and they suggested that I contact Mr Townsend by letter with their legal opinion (1). As can be seen from the two letters there is somewhat of a difference between the BII response and the legal opinion, I maintain that as the so called policemen of the industry that there should not be a great difference between the two responses. The legal response provoked a letter of apology from Mr Townsend, a copy of which is attached (3).

6 . On the 13th February 2011 I approached Mr Neil Robertson CEO of the BII with reference to an investigation into misrepresentation and breach of contract and asked if this would be a case that the BII would investigate. Considering the previous involvement of the BII I did not let Mr Robertson know, initially, that the case was Mavericks. The following are the comments made:

Inez Ward 13.02.11 - If a pubco had misrepresented the facts and also breached the contract would this be an area that the BII would investigate?

Neil Robertson 18.02.11 - Yes. Especially the former. The latter is more for the courts but we would now offer mediation instead, without making judgment.

Inez Ward 18.02.11 - Hmm ok thanks. I would like to take this a little further if you don't mind. The tenant moved in under a TAW with a view to taking on a lease with the rent agreed for the lease in writing. Once in under the TAW the pubco increased the rent for the lease by 20% and exerted pressure and duress to sign the new agreement. This is an older case would the BII still investigate?

Neil Robertson 18.02.11 - Of course . It wouldn't count toward this year’s tally though.

I then informed Mr Robertson that the case was Mavericks and asked how he would like me to take it forward. We arranged for a meeting on the 7th March and the whole situation was discussed. I then heard nothing so on the 29th March I again contacted Mr Robertson and asked for any update on this matter. He replied saying that he would be seeing Mr Simon Townsend the following week and assured me that this one of a number of issues on the agenda. Again I heard nothing so on the 11th April I again contacted Mr Robertson and asked for an update. Mr Robertson replied stating that my case wasn't mentioned but that he did make it clear that there were some outstanding cases. I was far from impressed and the following is my replyThank you for the response.

 

Not quite the response that I was looking for........

 

Please feel free to correct me at any point here, however I do believe that the BII have said that complaints will be dealt with within 15 days and the same for allowing the pubcos to respond. Obviously as this falls outside of those time limits I am somewhat disappointed, to say the least!

 

I would be grateful if you could let me know whether you have any intentions whatsoever of broaching this with Enterprise Inns.

Mr Roberston rang me and explained the situation, I was prepared to listen to his advice, which was to wait for a more opportune time. On the 19th May I again contacted Mr Robertson and asked for an update. Mr Robertson's reply was somewhat puzzling and so I replied asking whether mediation was restricted to BII members. Mr Robertson replied confirming that it was not. On the 25th May Mr Robertson rang and this matter cropped up into the conversation, I found it both intriguing and worrying that JFL's position on the tie was discussed between Mr Robertson and Mr Townsend. I thought about this long and hard for over a week and on the 7th June I wrote to Mr Robertson stating that I found it intriguing that Mr Robertson and Mr Townsend were willing to discuss JFL's position on the tie, but were unable/unwilling to discuss mediation, surely mediation should take priority. Mr Robertson replied and to say I was gobsmacked would be an understatement, I could not believe my eyes, the following was Mr Robertson's reply " That was all in the context of an opening discussion about possible mediation." Very obviously my next questions were as follows "What bearing would my position on the tie have on possible mediation? Is it Simon's view that mediation would only be possible if I changed my position on the tie?" Mr Robertson replied stating that we were losing a grip due to over analysis, I replied to Mr Robertson informing that I was not losing a grip at all, but merely asking questions raised by his comments!

7 . To date we are no further on in this matter and I don't believe that we will ever be. What is the point of a mediation service if it acts as above?

20 June 2011