Tied pubs charge up to 80p more per pint than free houses

Tied pubs are charging up to 80p more for a pint of lager than managed free houses, a new study has revealed.

The nationwide study by Britain's General Union (GMB) found that big Pubcos are forcing tenants to charge customers between £2.16 and £3.06 for a pint of lager which is between 7p and 80p more than a managed house such as JD Wetherspoon.

The GMB is submitting its findings to the Office of Fair Trading and to the European Union as part of its campaign to end the tie and secure lower prices for customers and better living conditions for tenants.

Martin Smith, GMB's national organiser, said: "The big Pubcos have tied their pub tenants to buy wholesale from them at up to 80p per pint more than the price in the wholesale market.

This is translating into poor living standards for the tenants and is being used by the Pubcos to pay interest on their securitised debts to bondholders often in off-shore tax havens."

The GMB data also found that the average price of a pint of draught standard lager in UK pubs is £2.50, a pint of draught standard bitter is £2.24 and the average price of a pint of premium bottled and canned lager is £2.54.

Samuel Smith pubs in Yorkshire sell the cheapest pint of standard lager at £1.68 a pint while InterContinental Hotels Group charge the most at £3.53 a pint.

Interestingly, the GMB figures conflict with the British Beer and Pub Association's latest handbook released earlier this month which found that the average price of a pint of beer in tenanted and leased pubs was the same as in independent pubs at £2.66 a pint.

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By Emma White

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