Pub Companies

Debate between Lilian Greenwood and Simon Danczuk

Wednesday 9th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Simon Danczuk (Rochdale) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Chesterfield (Toby Perkins) for championing this cause and pressing for and securing this debate. Hon. Members may not be aware that I have spent a considerable amount of time researching this subject over many years—perhaps too intensely on some occasions—and I wish to draw on some of that research by telling a story about Mary Spence, a publican in Rochdale who runs the Hunters Rest just off Syke common. One reason I am telling Mary’s story is because it addresses a point raised by Simon Townsend, the chief operating officer at Enterprise Inns. On 12 December he said in the Morning Advertiser that all he had ever asked was to be provided with

“clear evidence, which we can pursue to see whether we have done something wrong,”.

Well, I believe the way Mary Spence is being treated is wrong and that Mary’s story provides clear evidence that Enterprise Inns has little, if any, regard for customers at the Hunters Rest and indeed the wider community. I believe that Enterprise Inns is doing something wrong; it may not be illegal, but it is certainly wrong. I have been in the Hunters Rest on a few occasions and I can tell it is a well run pub. Mary and Tom work exceptionally hard; they start at six or seven in the morning and finish after midnight. They keep a smart, clean pub that provides bed and breakfast and pub food. Indeed, Hilary Devey, one of the entrepreneurial dragons on the BBC’s “Dragons’ Den”, worked at the Hunters Rest while filming “The Secret Millionaire” for Channel 4, but even such an accomplished entrepreneur as she could not work wonders under the arrangements of Enterprise Inns and I will explain why.

Mary Spence is 16 years through a 25-year lease with Enterprise Inns and she has had enough. Enterprise Inns controls most of the business—it sets prices, determines what work should be done on the property, sets the rent and decides what beer should be sold. For example, Mary could buy a 22-gallon barrel of Foster’s for £195 but she has no choice but to pay Enterprise Inns £291. She could buy Carling wholesale for £201 but has no choice but to buy it from Enterprise Inns for £303. That affects not only Mary Spence but her customers. Therefore, when Mr Townsend asks, “What’s wrong?”, it is that Mary Spence is paying around £500 a week extra for her beer.

[Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)]

Will my hon. Friend give way?

[Simon Danczuk]

I will not take interventions because I am conscious of the time. The other big problem with Enterprise Inns is that Mary has to maintain the property both inside and out. She had to pay for a fire escape to be fitted and for fire alarms throughout the building. She has invested her life savings in that pub over the past 16 years, but although the place is immaculate, what does she have to show for it? Enterprise Inns is doing all it can to ensure that she leaves the pub with as little financial return as possible. Mary pays an inflated rent but gets nothing done to the property. She pays inflated prices for beer but gets nothing in return. Last Friday, the regional manager of Enterprise Inns said that he could not even guarantee her a packet of beer mats! Mr Townsend asks what is wrong with his business model; those are the things that are wrong with it.

I am pleased the Government have moved on the statutory code, but I have concerns about the tied option, which should be kept open, and about open market rent reviews, which the Minister should consider.