UK: UK brewer Marston's charged too much for beer – report

Marston’s Plc charged too much for beer and rent, and resisted calls to compensate tenants, the Times reported, citing a finding from a government adjudicator.

The U.K.’s pubs code body found that the company had broken industry rules and was “significantly deficient” in its treatment of a tenant, according to the newspaper. Marston’s charges for a cask of beer rather than the number of pints that can be sold from it, meaning pubs often lose out on a few pints of beer at the bottom of a barrel. Rents for tenants are calculated from sales forecasts assuming a full barrel is sold.

Marston’s told the Times that the findings will have “no consequence across the industry.” Dave Mountford of the Pubs Advisory Service told the newspaper that the ruling could lead to compensation for the “thousands of pounds of rent” that some tenants have been wrongfully charged.