A PICA-Service Hearing took place at the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, 12, Bloomsbury Square, London on Wednesday, 25th June 2014. This related to complaints lodged by Southwest Inns Limited, tenants of the Grapes, Bank Street, Melksham, Wiltshire.
The Respondents were Punch Taverns. Tom Henry, a licensed property solicitor, chaired the Hearing. The panel was made up of a licensed trade accountant, a barrister with historical licensed trade experience, a Magistrate employed by a Pub Co prior to his retirement, a licensed trade trainer and a multiple pub tenant.
The complaints briefly concerned alleged poor communication to include a failure to provide meeting notes and issues concerning a rent review, failing to act with integrity at all times in accordance with the UK Pub Industry framework code, failure to provide adequate support, issues concerning an intended assignment, charges for services never received centring around charges for gas cylinder rental, changes in machine supplier without consultation and charges for training which was not received.
The panel found, from the evidence presented, that the Respondents had committed technical breaches of their Code of Practice in respect of:-
a failures on the part of their Partnership Development Manager to provide to the Complainants minutes relating to meetings within a reasonable timeframe.
b failures in communication concerning rent review issues.
The Complainants were awarded an undisclosed level of damages. Costs were awarded against the Respondents and the Complainants were invited to present a claim for their own costs in pursuing their 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