Tied pubs - pubs code consultation: workshops with tenants

2. Approach to the research

2.1 Approach

The research comprised two qualitative workshops with tenants conducted online via Zoom videoconferencing. Each session lasted for two hours. The first workshop was held with contacts provided by the Scottish Beer and Pub Association (SBPA) and the second with contacts provided by the Scottish Licenced Trade Association (SLTA). The representative bodies had informed the contacts of the research and secured their interest before passing on their details. Progressive then recruited the tenant contacts by email and telephone.

Circumstances meant that workshop attendance was lower than hoped for. Although ten contacts were provided altogether (five each from SBPA and SLTA), only three SBPA contacts were able to attend the first workshop and two SLTA contacts the second. A number of contacts either dropped out at short notice or were unable to commit to attending due to ongoing issues in their businesses and the wider industry, including beer shortages and staff shortages due to coronavirus. It would be fair to say that the research coincided with a very difficult period for the industry.

That said, worthwhile and valuable insights were gained from the five tenant publicans who did take part in the discussions.

Prior to the workshops, Progressive drafted a topic guide that was signed off by the Scottish Government project team and used to guide the workshop discussions. In order to make best use of the time in the workshops, participants on recruitment were also given a pre-task exercise to complete in the days beforehand. The aim was to encourage them to marshall their thoughts on key questions relating to the Code around MRO leases, guest beer agreements, and what other things the Code should cover. The topic guide and pre-workshop task can be found in the appendices.

Workshops were moderated by an experienced researcher from the Progressive executive team.

2.2 About the workshop participants

Tenant contacts provided by SBPA who participated in the workshop tended to be larger operators running multiple pubs. The SLTA-sourced participants were both small operators – one operated a single pub, another operated a pub and an entertainment venue owned by different landlords. Both tenants nominated by SLTA were on Full Repairing and Insuring (FRI) leases^[1].

2.3 Limitations to the research

The overall sample achieved was smaller than anticipated, as discussed above. In particular, it was not possible to speak to any tenants based on islands, so that perspective was not included in this research.