Any nearer to breaking the Pubs Code?

In this month’s “Legal” page for Pub & Bar Magazine, Suzanne Davies provides an update on the now long-running Pubs Code saga, including the oral evidence given by the Pubs Code Adjudicator (“PCA”), Paul Newby, and his deputy, Fiona Dickie on 26 June 2018 to the House of Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, on which we have previously reported here.

Suzanne’s article for Pub & Bar can be downloaded below.

UPDATE: In her article, Suzanne refers to reports that Greene King were judicially reviewing the PCA’s advice note on Market Rent Only compliant proposals, described by the PCA as giving: “A strong yet simple steer on what pub-owning businesses can reasonably ask from their tenants in a MRO-compliant tenancy.” An application for judicial review claim was indeed submitted by Greene King on 14 June 2018 but it was subsequently refused by the High Court. It was confirmed by Greene King on 15 October 2018 that whilst it remains dissatisfied with elements of the Pubs Code “since [it] first challenged the note, discussions between the adjudicator and the pub companies have been more productive, including the waiving of confidentiality rights by the pub companies, so the potential impact of [its] challenge has lessened”