Has the BEC Report, the OFT, BBPA and RICS made any difference to the treatment of lessees/tenants at this moment of time.

I meet licensees every week that I have never seen before, the leased and tied ones with a few exceptions in the thinking Pub owning companies, say that absolutely nothing has changed and possible the situation is worse.

The main offenders are desperately trying to push through rent increases of around 20% on fictitious FMT’s before the RICS and any other changes come into the industry.

They know that any change to a lease made now will be binding until the next rent review  when any RICS Guidance will come into effect.

It was a point that I raised to the RICS on any change and the legal opinion was that any changes could only come into effect at a review time.

I had a lengthy discussion with a lady lessee yesterday, her Pub Co are trying to force her into an 18.5% increase and they will not move, regardless of the fact that they are offering leases on closed pubs for £5K.

Her business is static in terms of growth being a community pub and the turnover has been reduced following the smoking enforcement and the recession from some years ago.

The major Pub Co’s will not sign a deed of variation on any rent reductions, which effectively means that should they sell the pub, the old rent comes back into force with a very good chance of killing the sale.

The whole trading operation of all the major Pub Co’s is short term which is wholly detrimental to the industry.

The training is totally inadequate, a one or five day course does not produce a long term licensee, we have far too many desperate people, many totally unsuitable for the industry, inadequately trained and their only criteria was the ability to raise enough cash to effect a supposed low cost entry into the business, which everyone knows is totally incorrect.

I hope Peter Luff can expose the sham that really exists when he meets the Government.