News and Press
CAMRA - Appeal withdrawn

On 7 February 2011, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) allowed the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) to withdraw its appeal against the Office of Fair Trading's (OFT) 2009 decision not to refer the UK beer market to the Competition Commission for a full market investigation.

In July 2009 CAMRA complained to the OFT that the market for the supply of beer in the UK, in particular the 'beer tie', had led to a lack of competition and that consumers were suffering high prices and a lack of choice as a result.

Following an initial investigation, the OFT concluded that, to the contrary, the UK beer sector is functioning competitively and that the beer tie is not being used to inflate pub beer prices beyond competitive levels. Moreover, that it had not prevented tied pubs from offering a wide choice of beers to consumers.

CAMRA appealed to the CAT. In response to the appeal the OFT announced that it would reconsider its decision. In the meantime, the appeal was stayed. Having consulted on its initial findings, the OFT refused to reverse its original decision on the basis that there were insufficient grounds to do so. Following this CAMRA applied to the CAT to withdraw its appeal.

TLT's competition team comments "It is to be hoped that CAMRA's decision to withdraw its appeal brings the long running 'beer tie' saga to an end. Whilst CAMRA may be disappointed at the OFT's refusal to take further action, the decision will be welcomed by those pub companies operating the tied model, as the OFT's findings confirm that the beer tie is a legitimate business strategy."