Reform of the Beer Tie

CAMRA is campaigning for a rebalancing in the current unfair relationship between giant property companies known as pubcos and their licensees. This rebalancing must include an option for lessees to become free of tie, accompanied by an open market rent review, so that they can buy beer on the open market potentially saving each pub business tens of thousands a year. Those lesees who remain tied should be given the opportunity to buy one real ale as a guest beer outside of any beer tie. The beer tie is essentially a contractual agreement that prevents pub lesees buying beer on the open market at competitive prices. The pubco's make huge substantial excess profits by using the beer tie to force lesses and ultimately the consumer to pay high prices.

The "beer tie" is not in itself harmful and has been used for over a century by regional family brewers to guarantee a market for the beer that they brew. It is to support these family brewers that CAMRA supports an exemption from the guest beer and free of tie option for any company that owns fewer than 500 pubs.

Campaign Timeline:

December 2004 - The House of Commons Trade and Industry Select Committee issued a report highlighting serious concerns regarding the conduct of the large pub companies. The Committee called on the Industry to introduce a Code of Practice and stated that the Government should not hesitate to introduce a statutory code if voluntary reform did not deliver.
May 2009 - The House of Commons Business Select Committee issued a damning verdict of the failure of the large pub companies to reform and called on government to intervene.
July 2009 – CAMRA used its status as a designated consumer body to submit a super-complaint to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).
October 2009 – the OFT rejected CAMRA's super-complaint. CAMRA appealed this decision and succeeded in getting the OFT to reopen the investigation.
March 2010 - The House of Commons Business Select Committee issued a follow up report which called for Government intervention if satisfactory reform had not been delivered by June 2011
April 2010 - The Labour Government endorsed the Select Committee report and pledged that legislation would introduce a free of tie option and a guest beer option if the June 2011 deadline was not met
June 2010 - The Coalition Government endorsed the June 2011 deadline and the Business Secretary made clear that the pub companies were on probation.
October 2010 - The OFT again declined to take further action on CAMRA's complaint. No further legal appeal was issued given the existence of the Government's 2011 deadline.
June 2011 - CAMRA gave both oral and written evidence to the Business Select Committee's further inquiry, arguing that self-reform has failed and Government intervention is now necessary
November 2011 - Coalition Government announces a deal with the British Beer and Pub Association which offers some small steps forward but fails to address the key issues of rebalancing the relationship between struggling licensees and large pubcos.
January 2012 - MPs held a debate in the House of Commons and unanimously passed a motion criticising the Government's lack of action on pub companies as falling short of their own commitments and requiring the Government to commission an independent review of self regulation in the pub sector.
Present - the campaign goes on!