Vianet is confident it will match or exceed the number of installations of its beer flow monitoring equipment at pubs in the second half of its financial year compared to H1, despite uncertainty around Government intervention in the use of the systems.
Chief executive Stewart Darling told M&C Report the company has a “number of irons in the fire” and is in discussion with customers in both tenanted/leased and managed companies.
Yesterday Vianet announced that it installed 150 new units in pubs in the six months to 30 September, against 716 in the same period last year, although that period included its rollout with Spirit. Darling told M&C he was “confident” of reaching between 300 and 400 across the full year. There was a net reduction of 650 units to c17,000 at the year end, with pub closures also cited.
As part of a proposed Statutory Code for pubcos, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills plans to stop information obtained from flow monitoring equipment being used to determine if a tenant has bought outside the tie. A final decision on the Government’s next move is expected this month.
Darling said: “Until there’s clarity on what’s going to come out, that creates uncertainty around our business, not to mention in [pubcos’] own businesses in the tenanted area.
“It’s only natural people aren’t going to make capex in iDraught for a service that has a five year agreement until such time as we have a degree of clarity. That’s regardless of where we are in the tenanted sector or the managed sector.”
Vianet had previously stated that it could take legal action if the Government presses ahead with its proposal.
Asked what Vianet believes will be the outcome, chairman James Dickson said: “You hear different rumours coming back. We’ve chosen not to try and get into a situation where we are trying to second guess what the outcome is going to be.
“We know that our arguments have now been heard and we are hopeful of a fair outcome.”
Currently 15% of installations are iDraught and Darling said the aim is to reach 40-50%.
Meanwhile, Vianet has installed more than 100 units in America and Dickson said he expected to expand to 150 by the year end. The aim is to win five or five “major customers” as a pilot to act as a “springboard” for further expansion.
“What we are not going to do is go for crazy growth here. It’s got to be both profitable and sustainable.”
