The Beer Orders
The Supply of Beer (Tied Estate) Order 1989 and The Supply of Beer (Loan Ties, Licensed Premises and Wholesale Prices) Order 1989, commonly known as the Beer Orders, were Statutory Instruments made by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in December 1989.
The Orders restricted the number of tied pubs that could be owned by large brewery groups in the United Kingdom to 2000, and required large brewer landlords to allow a guest ale to be sourced by tenants from someone other than their landlord. The industry responded by spinning off purely pub-owning companies ("pubcos"), such as (Punch Taverns, Enterprise Inns, and Admiral Taverns) from the older brewing-and-owning companies (notably Allied Lyons, Bass, and Scottish & Newcastle). The Beer Orders were revoked in January 2003, by which time the industry had been transformed.
The acts followed publication of "The Supply of Beer: A report on the supply of beer for retail sale in the United Kingdom",[1] an investigation by the Competition Commission. The Report contained a number of adverse findings related to the vertical links between brewing and pub retailing, and made recommendations aimed at loosening the tie between pub retailing and brewing to facilitate easier entry by, and increasing competition between, brewers, wholesalers and pub retailers.
