ALE Winter/Spring 2005 No. 316 : Next section

Guest Beers

The Trade and Industry Select Committee recently reported on its investigations into the trading practices of the pub companies, who now control the majority of British pubs. The Committee decided, rather amazingly, that no brewer or pub company enjoyed a dominant position so there were no competition issues which needed addressing.

They also turned down CAMRA's recommendation that pub company tenants should be able to offer a guest beer of their own choosing, rather than be restricted to the often-limited list of expensive "guests" available from the company itself. This will continue to make it hard for micro-brewers to get access to the market as well as reducing choice for customers.

-> House of Commons: The report
-> The Publican 21-Dec-2004: Pubcos off the hook on beer tie
-> The Publican 21-Dec-2004: Trade & Industry Committee criticises CAMRA
-> CAMRA 21-Dec-2004: Pub Companies Given a Clean Bill of Health: 'It's a whitewash', says CAMRA
-> The Publican 6-Jan-2005: Licensees lash out over committee report

ALE Winter/Spring 2005 No. 316 : Next section
Cambridge & District CAMRA