Letters sent by Punch Taverns licensees speaking up for the pub company were drafted by Punch itself, The Sun reports this morning.
According to the newspaper, the letters, which were sent to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills as part of the consultation on a statutory code for the sector, came from a template sent by Punch to its licensees.
A Punch spokesman told The Sun: “Any suggestion that any of our tenants have been pressured to express their views is categorically untrue.”
Speaking at the Tenanted Pub Company Summit last month, Punch’s external affairs and central operations director Andy Slee said hundreds of its licensees have written to the Government in support of the company for the consultation.
