This related to complaints lodged by Seven Spirit Limited of the Old House at Home in Northampton.
The Respondents were Enterprise Inns.
Rodger Vickers chaired the Hearing. The PICA-Service panel was made of circuit Judge and former head of chambers Trevor Barber, a commercial solicitor, a specialist accountant to the licensed trade, a multiple licensed property tenant and a retired Brewery and Pub Co director.
The complaints briefly centered around allegations as to the fact the tenants had not been the recipient of legal advice concerning the content of the Lease for the Old House at Home, had not been the recipients of PEAT training, allegations that signature on various documents had been applied by unauthorized personnel, that the content of the completed Lease was different to that agreed, that the tenants Business Plan had not been signed off by a qualified accountant, that there had been a break down in the relationship between tenants and the landlord Companies’ Regional Manager as a result of the latter’s conduct and that there had been a failure as a result for the landlord Company to provide a replacement Regional Manager, allegations that the complainants had been charged for an item which had not been delivered, that an overcharge had been implemented concerning the repair and maintenance fund and an issue in respect of an incorrect threshold barrelage being adopted in the respect of the landlord Companies discounting scheme.
The PICA-Service panel found from the evidence presented by the parties, that the Respondents had committed breaches of its Code of Practice in respect of:
The Complainant was awarded an undisclosed level of damages. Costs were awarded against the Respondents and the Complainants invited to present a claim for their own costs in pursuing the complaint.
More information about PICA-Service PICA-Service comes within the auspices of the Pub
Governing Body having been formed by six of the industry’s leading associations (the ALMR,
the BBPA, the BII, the FLVA, the Brighton and Hove licensee Association and the GMV) in
order to deliver self-regulation to the tied tenanted pub industry. Its mandate is to deal with
technical breaches or breaches of the spirit of the industry framework code of practice, or
breaches of individual pub company (and pub-owning brewery) codes of practice, occurring
after 30th June 2010 – the date the framework code came into effect.
The PICA-Service panel comprises independent experts made up of a diverse group of
individuals including a circuit judge, a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators,
accountants, solicitors, a barrister, a magistrate, chartered surveyors, licensed trainers,
pub tenants and retired pub tenants, plus brewery/pub Co and retired brewery/pub Co
executives.
More details are available on the PICA-Service website including how complaints should be
lodged.
The PICA-Service website address is: www.picaservice.com