The Independent family Brewers of Britain (IFBB) has welcomed the decision to make pub companies with fewer than 500 tied pubs exempt from the statutory code.
Yesterday, the committee discussing the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill, which includes the Government’s proposals for a pubs code and adjudicator, voted in favour of the fundamental change.
IFBB chairman, James Staughton, said: “We were vocal about our opposition to the planned inclusion of pub companies with fewer than 500 tied pubs in the code as the diseconomies of scale would have meant the cost of compliance would have been far greater per pub than for the larger companies, without any apparent benefit to anyone, therefore we are pleased that this amendment has been passed. We hope that the amendment which supports smaller businesses will also get the support of the whole House at the next report stage.
“We’d like to take this opportunity to thank MPs on the Bill Committee for their cross-party support.”
The IFBB has pledged it will remain committed to the industry framework code.
