Pubs Advisory Service

12/08/2026

🚨 Why the UK Pub Market is Broken (And Why the CMA Needs to Step In) 🚨

Think pub rent disputes are just a private row between a landlord and a tenant, and if publicans just negotiated a bit harder, it would be resolved? Think again: this behavior is not an isolated landlord-tenant dispute but a textbook consumer-and-business-market failure driven by corporate consolidation, information asymmetry, and regulatory blind spots.

Here is what is happening behind closed doors:

🍺 Manipulated Rent Models ("The Russian Dolls"): Pub-owning businesses use opaque "shadow profit and loss" accounts to inflate rents. By fiddling with product sales mixes, underestimating beer wastage, and ignoring realistic operating costs, they squeeze every last drop of profit out of hard-working publicans.

🍺 Local Microbreweries Shut Out: When tied publicans try to go free-of-tie, PubCos respond with blanket Gross Profit targets. Because small, local craft brewers can't match the massive discounts of global corporate brewers, this pricing model effectively forces pubs to keep selling multinational brands, killing off local choice for pub-goers long after the tie was broken.

🍺 Regulatory Blind Spots: The current regulatory setup leaves massive corporate "dry brokers" completely unmonitored and free to indulge in macro-level market distortion. It is time for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to step up, launch a formal market investigation, and fix a broken system that is damaging our pub culture and local independent breweries.

👉 Read our full technical breakdown: "Pub Rent Setting – Russian Dolls" on our website (this is the most-read article we have ever published on our website!) see how these valuation methods operate in practice! Please share this post. &L

Latest info from The Pubs Advisory Service Ltd.

03/08/2026

Pubs that have lost land to development might be in line for a rates reduction. Watch the reel and see the link in the comments.

23/07/2026

Breaking news, more rates relief coming in 2027 for pubs. Details to follow. Regards

The cut will take effect from April, saving the average pub about £1,100 in tax next year, No 10 says.

16/07/2026

Update on PCA investigation into Stonegate - tied gaming machines also in the spotlight. See our blog post and guide on the link below.
https://pubs.expert/is-stonegate-playing-fair-the-pcas-investigation-how-to-fight-back/

16/07/2026

🚨 UPDATE: PCA INVESTIGATION EXPANDED 🚨

Yesterday we challenged the Pubs Code Adjudicator on why Regulation 47 gaming machines had not been included in the new Stonegate investigation.

Today the PCA confirmed that evidence concerning Regulation 47 and gaming machines can now be submitted for consideration as part of the investigation process.

For years we've argued that there is no gaming machine exemption or waiver in the Pubs Code, yet gaming machines continue to appear in new tied agreements offered by Regulated Pub Companies since they were outlawed in 2016.
If you're a Stonegate tenant with evidence, now is the time to come forward.
Sometimes asking the question matters. You can get a copy of our guide on the investigation and how to engage with it via our latest blog post.

Latest info from The Pubs Advisory Service Ltd.

15/07/2026

A short reel about submitting evidence to the PCA investigation- this is about how you can use "business plans" as evidence. Regards Chris

15/07/2026

🚨 Is Stonegate playing fair with your pub? 🚨

The Pubs Code Adjudicator (PCA) has officially launched a major investigation into Stonegate (including Stonegate Pub Partners & Craft Union) for suspected breaches of the Pubs Code between 2021 and 2026.

If you are a tenant (or prospective tenant) who has been impacted, your voice needs to be heard.

The PCA is looking into whether Stonegate:
❌ Handed over inaccurate "Schedules of Condition" or hid property issues.
❌ Promised repairs but left them off the contract (or never finished them).
❌ Pushed unrealistic rent proposals and unsustainable business forecasts.
❌ Ignored requests for data to help you negotiate your rent.
❌ Failed to ensure Business Development Managers (BDMs) dealt fairly or kept proper meeting notes.

We need to act now. The deadline to submit evidence is 5:00 PM on August 12, 2026.

To make things as easy as possible for you, we’ve put together a guide on how to pull your evidence together and submit it to the PCA.

👇 Download the guide from our latest blog post, protect your business, and let’s make sure tied tenants get the fair treatment they deserve! 👇

Latest info from The Pubs Advisory Service Ltd.

22/02/2026

A tale of two cities....well theatres on this occasion. More valuation madness from the VOA its the Bard v Beatles

09/02/2026

The clock’s ticking ⏰
The Government’s business rates consultation ends on 18 February 📅
Be heard 🔊
Don’t stay quiet ❗
Submit your evidence — link in the comments 👇

09/02/2026

📣 Major Business Rates Consultation is closing soon — and it could be BIG for pubs.
The Government is reviewing how business rates work, including:
➡️ Fixing cliff‑edge thresholds
➡️ Reforming Small Business Rates Relief
➡️ More support for investment and refurbishments
➡️ Fairer valuations (especially for pubs on R&E)
This is our chance to influence REAL change. PAS is submitting evidence — and we want your experience included.
💬 Want to be part of the sector response?
⏰ Deadline: 18 Feb 2026
Let’s make our voices heard. 🍻 ➡️See link on our blog https://pubs.expert/business-rates-reform-what-pub-operators-need-to-know-right-now/

Call now to connect with business.