A PICA-Service Hearing took place at Whitefriars House, London EC4Y 0BS on Tuesday 16th July.
The complainants requested that they and their business remain anonymous. The respondent was Enterprise Inns.
The complaints concerned the manner in which the pub company had handled the implementation of its supply agreement; allegations as to failures in offering free-of-tie options; an alternative form of agreement or barrelage discounts; the manner in which the pub company had handled rent review procedures; an unwillingness on the part of the pub company to sell the pub to the tenant; allegations as to the behaviour of a regional manager and that of the relevant property services team.
The PICA-Service panel found, from the evidence presented, that Enterprise Inns had neither committed a technical breach of its Codes of Practice nor had it acted contrary to the spirit of its codes. It was found that the allegations as to breaches were not supported by the evidence provided.
The panel did direct within its award that the respondent must make arrangements, within a detailed timeframe, to rectify or cause to be rectified, damage to a car park wall occasioned by a delivery vehicle.
The next PICA-Service hearing is expected to take place in September, with the exact date yet to be confirmed with the parties concerned.
More information about PICA-Service
PICA-Service was formed by five of the industry’s leading associations (the ALMR, the BBPA, the BII, the FLVA and the GMV) in order to deliver self-regulation to the tied tenanted pub industry. Its mandate is to deal with breaches 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 chartered arbitrator, accountants, solicitors, a chartered surveyor, a licensed trainer, pub tenants and retired pub tenants, plus brewery and retired brewery executives.
It is now overseen by the Pubs Governing Body, an independent group responsible for the overseeing the entire self-regulatory regime.
More details are available on the PICA-Service website including how complaints should be lodged.
The PICA-Service website address is: www.picaservice.com