Pub trade's week of reckoning

The report finds “alarming evidence” that there may be serious problems caused by the dominance of the large pub companies.
Bec’s unanimous conclusions were coloured by its survey of 1,000 licensees, which committee chairman Peter Luff said backed up the personal views submitted by many licensees. Among the key findings were:
• 44% of licensees had not been given a breakdown of how their rent was calculated
• 67% earned less than £15,000pa and 50% of the licensees who had a turn-over of £500,000pa earned less than £15,000 — a 3% rate of return
• 64% of licensees did not feel their pubco added any value.