03/04/2009 - Pubs 'being forced to close down'
Company cartels that charge tenants up to 80p above the wholesale price of a pint of beer are driving pubs out of business, according to trade union GMB.
A new study showing that 1,131 pubs owned by just seven so-called pubcos had closed since December 2005 has caused the union to ask the Government to break up the cartels.
The pubcos were accused of driving up wholesale beer prices by as much as 8% every year, despite the current recession.
Some 232 closures took place in the West Midlands, 137 in the North West, 149 in the South East, 129 in Yorkshire and the Humber and 113 in London, GMB said.
The union's general secretary, Paul Kenny, said: "An unintended consequence of legislation to loosen the tie between breweries and pubs to free up the market for the benefit of consumers has been the growth in pubcos who are operating as a cartel in the industry.
"These pubcos, which own 25,000 pubs, are piled up with billions of pounds worth of debts. They are overcharging pubs by up to 80p a pint to pay the interest charges.
"It is this overcharging which is killing the pubs and driving them out of business."
Copyright © Press Association 2009
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