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The Beer Orders, brought in by Business Secretary Lord Young in Margaret Thatcher's government in the early 1990s, sought to break the power of the "Big Six" national brewers whose tied estates dominated beer retailing. But the orders backfired, leading to the creation of giant pub companies -- pubcos -- that now exercise an even greater grip over the supply of beer

Added: Saturday, December 27th 2014

Brigid Simmonds of the British Beer & Pub Association attacks the Market Rent option for pubco tenants by defending the "tied house" system she says has been around for centuries. She's rewriting history in her rush to defend the giant pub companies

Added: Friday, December 19th 2014

A tasting of three lager beers in Stockholm has come up with the conclusion that all lagers taste the same -- and this is good news, the organisers claim, as drinkers are not looking for wide variations in taste. But why choose just three beers and leave out some of the great Czech and German beers that do offer a wide variety of character. As Budweiser Budvar (brewhouse pictured left) proves, long ageing of beer leads to rich taste

Added: Thursday, August 14th 2014

Val Spencer -- aka Life Long Landlady -- runs the Cock in Lavenham, Suffolk and is a leading campaigner via Twitter for reform of the pubco model and the need for a market-rent option for licensees. In typical Twitter style, she expresses her disappointment at Business Secretary Vince Cable's watered-down pubco proposals

Added: Wednesday, June 11th 2014

Simon Clarke, both a chartered surveyor and publican, is a leading light in the Fair Pint campaign seeking a better deal from pubcos. He argues that the response by the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) to Vince Cable's proposals for pubco reform is woefully inadequate and ignores the fact that beer is cheaper on the open market

Added: Saturday, June 7th 2014

Proposals in the Queen's Speech for pubco reform from Vince Cable and Nick Clegg stop short of meeting demands for a real shake-up that will give tenants a market-only rent option to widen drinkers' choice. And nothing in the plans will prevent the closure of pubs, running at 28 a week

Added: Tuesday, June 3rd 2014

In an Open Letter to Business Secretary Vince Cable, Roger Protz says the delays to Dr Cable's report into the pub companies is causing great concern for pub tenants and pubgoers. As a result of their debt mountains, Enterprise and Punch are selling off viable pubs and closing down vital community assets. The time for action is now

Added: Sunday, June 1st 2014

At the Publican's Morning Advertiser Beer Innovation Summit held in Burton-on-Trent on 26 February, Roger Protz said such beer styles as India Pale Ale were the vogue as drinkers were looking for malt and hop character in beer and were moving away from bland global brands

Added: Wednesday, February 26th 2014

Tesco reports it has sold more than 1.5 million bottles of ales this week -- three times more than in the same pre-Christmas week in 2011. It says demand continues to grow as younger people switch to ale. But this great British success story is largely ignored by the media. The BBC programme 12 Drinks of Christmas, presented by Alexander Armstrong and Giles Coren (pictured) completely ignored Britain's national drink

Added: Saturday, December 21st 2013

A damning report by Fair Deal for Your Local shows that the giant national pubcos are closing locals at a frightening pace in order to pay off their horrendous debts. As Business Secretary Vince Cable ponders the role of the pubcos, Fair Deal says the case for a statutory code of practice must be top of his agenda

Added: Saturday, September 28th 2013