Enterprise Inns criticise supermarkets

Enterprise Inns, the UK leased and tenanted pub group, has criticised supermarkets for selling cheap booze.

The UK’s second largest pub group said anti-social drinking is the fault of supermarkets. Chief executive, Ted Tuppen, said Asda are currently selling beer at 22p per pint, which is less than duty plus VAT.

He added that it is irresponsible that supermarkets and corner shops are putting beer into an unregulated environment in this way.

Mr Tuppen continued that the pub industry continues to be considered as a source of anti-social behaviour. That’s despite the fact most alcohol that leads to anti-social behaviour is probably being bought very inexpensively in supermarkets and then drunk in unregulated environments. Supermarkets must face up to their responsibilities.

However, supermarket giant Asda retaliated and insisted that they are a responsible retailer and that we should all be working together to deal with this issue.

Asda added that research shows that their customers buy alcohol as part of their weekly shop, not for immediate consumption, unlike when they are in a pub or a club.

Enterprise Inns, headquartered in Solihull, posted a 4% decline in full-year pre-tax profits to £301 million. However, it said that this was partly due to tough comparisons with 2006, when the World Cup improved trade.

In addition to the above, brewing bosses have said that beer consumption in pubs has declined to its lowest level since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Brewers have written an open letter to all MPs calling for immediate action to save Britain’s national drink.

The British Beer & Pub Association says that a difficult market is being made worse by the Government’s tax policy. It wants a freeze on beer duty in an effort to cap prices and improve sales as it is under severe pressure to reduce alcohol consumption.

Pub beer sales are currently just over 5.4 billion pints a year, which is down by 49% on the 10.67 billion in 1979. In terms of the number of pints pulled each day, the decline has been from 29.2 million to 14.8 million.

In spite of the cheap booze sold in supermarkets, total sales are also down by 22% after the record achieved in 1979. In terms of daily consumption, this is a fall from 33.2 million pints to 26 million.

British Beer & Pub Association’s Rob Hayward said the time to support our national drink is long overdue.

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