I n s i d e . . .

Zombie Companies?PubCos driving the British pub out of business

Beer Duty Escalator ScrappedWe did it!WWW.LUNESDALECAMRA.ORG.UK

THE

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• LUN

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WINNER

of CAMRA’s 2013

Pub of the Year

Award

Issue 00Issue 18 | April - June 2013 IIIssue 00FREEpleasetake a copy

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Westmorland CAMRA Cider & Perry Pub of the Year 2013

THE GEORGE & DRAGON HOTEL

Discounts on Real Ale given upon production of valid CAMRA Membership card.

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Westmorland CAMRA Cider & Perry Pub of the Year 2013

THE GEORGE & DRAGON HOTEL

Discounts on Real Ale given upon production of valid CAMRA Membership card.

ChairmanTom Sherlock

TreasurerJohn Slinger

Branch Secretarye: secretary@lunesdalecamra.org.uk

Email Enquiries: drinker@lunesdalecamra.org.uk

The Editor reserves the right to amend or shorten contributions for publication.

All editorial copyright © Lunesdale CAMRA 2013.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in articles are those of individual contributors and are not necessarily the views of the Lunesdale Branch, The Campaign for Real Ale Ltd. Lunesdale CAMRA accepts no liability in relation to the accuracy of advertisements; readers must rely on their own enquiries. It should also be noted that acceptance of an advertisement in this publication should not be deemed an endorsement of quality by Lunesdale CAMRA.

© MMXIII Capital Media Group. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be transmitted, reproduced, recorded, photocopied or otherwise without the express written permission of the copyright holder.

Branch Contacts

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www.thisiscapital.com

Welcome to the summer edition Lunesdale Drinker.

It is heartening to see the trade supporting the real ale scene with several pubs promoting their own beer festivals. Mike Dennison at the York Hotel in Morecambe has again pulled together a good variety of beers [see article].

In fact the real ale scene is really brightening in Morecambe with the Royal, the Pier, the Queens Hotel on the promenade, the Bull on Queen Street all having had major refurbishments. At the time of writing the Eric Bartholomew too is currently having work done.

April is Community Pubs Month and all the pubs in the 2013 Good Beer Guide will have received a free promotional pack of posters, table toppers beers mats and leaflets. With nationally, 18 pubs a month closing, CAMRA is keenly aware that we need to promote the pub as an essential community asset.

The new National Planning Policy Framework explicitly empowers councils to

introduce policies aimed at safeguarding pubs and we should encourage this practice.

CAMRA’s practice of giving awards to pubs that are making the effort to bring trade are vital in sustaining viable businesses that need to be recognised.

Lunesdale’s Pub of the Year is the Snug at Carnforth Station. This is the first micropub in this area. It will be interesting to see if this current trend in small venues will continue.

EDITOR’S NOTEJenny Greenlaigh

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The Morecambe Bay Partnership, a Kendal based trust has won £495,000

from a government pot to improve seaside resorts. The project “700 days to transform the Bay” aims to pull more visitors into our region with better training and marketing.

In anticipation of this several Morecambe pubs have seen substantial upgrades and this means a welcome addition on the real ale scene.

First to complete last year was the Royal Hotel on the Promenade. Originally built in the 1860s, it was rebuilt in the 1900s and became popular with the theatrical profession. More recently, we remembered it as a Tetley House with splendidly engraved and acid etched mirrors and attractive tiling. These features

are still there. It is open plan with a bar of dark wood and brass fittings, which echo the Edwardian taste. There is comfy seating in the front under the curved bay window and tables and chairs for dining to the rear. Three real ales are served, mainly from local brewers Lancaster Brewery and Cross Bay. Food and accommodation is available, plus a large function room upstairs.

In January the Bull Hotel in Lines Street has had a remarkable recovery from near dereliction. This former Tetley house and latterly a Ma Murphy’s Irish Pub closed in April 2012 but reopened after a major refurbishment in January 2013. This distinctive building has a long history. Originally the Black Bull Inn built in 1784, by 1831 had become the Bull Hotel.

BRING ME SUNSHINEMore real ale for Morecambe

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Own or manage a pub or bar?The Lunesdale Drinker is the only local magazine to reach more than6000 discerning real ale drinkers and pubgoers in North Lancashire.Best of all, advertising costs as little as £3.45 per week.

Call 01524 220 230or visit www.lunesdaledrinker.com

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At one time it had a dancing saloon at the rear of the hotel with a dance band of 11 concertinas and two drums. When in 1922 it was put up for auction at the Kings Arms it comprised an entrance hall, vaults, concert room and stage, a smoke room, bar parlour, kitchen, wine lodge and outdoor bottle department, first floor dining room, 6 bedrooms, a cellar with a stone stillage for 24 barrels, a garage and stables. At one time it was owned by Honeycombe Leisure who discovered a fireplace under a window in 1991 during a refurbishment. Now, Blackpool based Amber Taverns spent £320,000 on refurbishment and although it is open plan with a long bar on the left hand side the space is nicely divided into smaller areas. Very much a sports supporter with TV screens throughout, but on the recent visits sound is kept at a decent volume. A small garden to the rear also sports a screen! Four real ales are available with Tetleys as the regular beer.

There are two pubs on the Promenade close together, run by husband and wife team, Debbie and Lee Carter. The Queens Hotel on the corner of Queen Street is a grade II listed building and one of the first

hotels to appear in 1851, soon after the railway arrived in 1848. It was a popular Matthew Brown house until taken over by Scottish and Newcastle and latterly became a night club until Heineken Stars and Bars turned it back into pub. It will definitely be an entertainment venue as it is open plan with a small stage to the left. Food is available and three handpumps serve popular real ales. The pub is still awaiting refurbishment for the façade but inside it is light and airy with much pale wood.

At the other end of the terrace, the Pier is more traditional having a comfy lounge and games room. There are two handpumps in the lounge and one in the games room. Caledonian Flying Scotsman is the resident beer, but guests from other breweries are always available. With music and quiz nights there is something to entertain you. We wish Debbie and Lee success in these ventures.

At the same time, the Eric Bartholomew Wetherspoons pub is also having work done to the frontage of this venue.

Morecambe’s choice of hostelries is definitely expanding and it’s good to see the trade supporting real ale.

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Bee

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Following the demise of Yates and Jackson in 1984 and a past trading

agreement with Mitchell’s - Daniel Thwaites is a common sight in Lancaster pubs.

Thwaites started up in 1807, moved across the road in 1966 due to expansion and are now looking for a third site around Blackburn after the sale of their city centre premises.

On the beer mat front, 177 mats have been known to be printed over the years .

COLLECTORS CORNERCourtesy of Alan T Gardner

CAMRA MEMBER DISCOUNTSMORECAMBE• Royal - 40p off a pint• York - All cask ales @ £2 a pint

GARSTANG• Wheatsheaf - 20p off a pint

* The discount in the Moorlands is separate from accepting Wetherspoon’s vouchers - unsurprisingly the pub doesn’t give two discounts on the same beer!

** The Lord Ashton offers a further discount Monday to Fridays, between 3pm-6pm when 20% can be saved on draught real ale, real cider & the craft ale lines.

This list is probably incomplete. Send updates to editor@lunesdalecamra.org.uk Members need to be in possession of a valid CAMRA membership card to claim the discount

LANCASTER• The Borough - £1 off a pint• Greaves Park - 30p off a pint• Lord Ashton - 10% Off**• Merchants - 10p off a pint• Moorlands - 10p off a pint*• Penny Bank - 10p off a pint• Robert Gillow - 10% Off• Tap House - 10% Off• Water Witch - 30p Off• White Cross - 10p Off

WHAT’S ON? For further information about any branch CAMRA events, visit

www.lunesdalecamra.org.uk

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7Issue18 |

As seen on ITV1’s The Dales

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Westmorland CAMRA POTY 2011

Traditional Real Ales

www.myspace.com/yorkshirehousewww.theyorkshirehouse.co.uk

Real Ales • Draft Ciders • Bottled BeersMon - Wed: 7pm - 12am | Thu & Fri: 7pm - 1am

Sat: 2pm - 1am | Sun: 2pm - 11.30pm

Parliament St., Lancaster. 01524 64679

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9Issue18 |

Friday, October 5th. Mike’s Birthday, so of course we felt that an East End crawl

was in order “me old china you diamond geezer”.

First pub The Hoop and Grapes on Whitechapel Road opposite Aldgate Station. A Nicholson’s pub with a small timbered frontage which belies this pub’s spacious interior. It is well appointed and comfortable having wooden floors and cosy real fires. Pictures depicting the Great Fire of London adorn the walls understandably as the pub was the only pub to survive the inferno in 1688. A range of clientele from city gents to students and locals. There is a superb range of tasty ales from which to choose and we had a Hackney Pale Ale followed by a Fuller’s Chiswick bitter.

Time to go on to the next one which is the excellent Pride of Spitalfields located just off Brick Lane. What a superbly cracking boozer complete with pub cat “Lenny” whose miserable existence comprises of sleeping, eating and fraternising with the punters. The pub has a roomy but cosy main bar with a smaller room adjacent There is a piano in the corner and a real fire. begging you sit down with a pint. of one of the great ales on offer which include Truman’s, Crouch Vale Sharps and Fullers ESB. All the ales were on good form.as were the staff and customers The pub’s customers are largely made up of students, arty Shoreditch types aswell as locals. A great convivial atmosphere prevails. The pub was very busy but Mike and I managed to find a corner all the better to sample the excellent brews and enjoy this great example of the

traditional east end pub. Reluctantly we left as the next pub

was calling us. This pub is the East India Arms on Fenchurch Street. This pub has a large interior as a result of knocking two rooms into one. However the pub manages to retain a cosy feel. There is an array of pictures on the wall all to do with The East India Company from which the pub gets its name. The pub is of the Sheperd and Neame variety with the occasional guest brew. Mike and I had a pint of the Spitfire which although not the most wonderful beer in the world was perfectly quaffable.

The next pub on our trail was another Nicholson’s pub on Gracechurch St, called the Swan. We were getting rather replete with ale at this stage in the proceedings so the details are a little hazy. The pub has a long traditional bar wooden floors and leather seating. We just about squeezed in a pint of Fullers before calling time on ourselves. All we had to now was to get home to Tooting home to some of the finest curry establishments in the land. However we chose the esteemed Kahari Lahore to roundoff an extremely pleasant evening (hic).

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LONDON PUBBINGby Ruth & Mike Howard

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File on Four’ on 13th November 2012 reported that Punch Taverns was

a “zombie company” and that its economic model was driving its licensees into despair and the closure of their pub as economically unsustainable. The definition of a zombie company was one which had had assets, its overvalued borrowed large amounts of money on the back of this valuation, had seen a collapse in value of those assets and was now unable to sustain the debt, being barely able to repay the interest owed let alone the debt.

The programme reported that this definition of a Zombie Company precisely fitted Punch Taverns and also other PubCos. Punch’s pub estate had been valued at a high level some years ago and large loans in the order of £2 billion had been taken out on the strength of this valuation Since then the property values had collapsed. The PubCos then found themselves unable to repay the large debt and were struggling even to pay just the interest on the debt.

Their only avenue was to bleed their lessees/licensees dry the and rents high with controversial Beer Tie. This required licensees to buy their beer through the PubCo at prices Says company much higher than on the open market.

Greg Mulholland MP, Chair of the Parliamentary Save the Pub Group commented that PubCos were no more than property speculators and that their

economic model was in ruins. It was the pub licensees that were paying the cost of the PubCo failures and being driven into insolvency and closure of their pub.

‘File on Four’ reported that this excessive borrowing was a major crisis facing a number of British companies, with between 80,000 and 150,000 companies being classed as Zombie Companies, unable to afford the interest owed on their borrowing and unable to repay the debt. This left them in a position in which they did not have the resources to invest to grow and develop, and were as a result facing a cycle of decline.

This Zombie Company crisis also posed a major threat to the banks which had made the loans, with as much as £100 million at risk of default. There was a direct parallel with the credit crunch bank crisis when toxic loans brought banks to the verge of collapse. The analogy given was that of a pack of cards collapsing.

A spokesperson for Punch Taverns denied that it was a Zombie Company, claiming it was highly profitable and that it was able to invest in its pubs.

Pressure is growing on the Government to take action on the PubCos and to rein in their power to milk their licensees through unrealistically high rents and the high prices for beer charged through the beer tie.

Meanwhile the future of the British pub hangs in the balance. PubCos own an estimated 51% of all the pubs in Britain

PubCos Driving the British pub out of business by MerseyAle

PUNCH TAVERNS IS A ZOMBIE COMPANY

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and are therefore central to the future and survival of the British pub as a vital part of British life. Two PubCos between them, Punch Taverns and Enterprise Inns, own 25% of British pubs.

Government Beginning to Act to Curb PubCo Power Proposal to Introduce Statutory Code of Practice

“PubCos (are) exploiting and squeezing their publicans by unfair practices and a focus on short-term profits.” Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Business.

On January 8th 2013 Vince Cable, Government Coalition the Secretary of State for Business, announced in the House of Commons that he proposed to introduce a statutory code of practice to regulate the actions of PubCos. This would be policed by an independent adjudicator. However this code would only apply to PubCos that own more than 500 tied leases. This would limit the Code to just the six largest PubCos in the UK;

Punch Taverns, Enterprise Inns, Greene King, Marston’s, Admiral Taverns and Star Pubs and Bars.

In making the announcement Vince Cable stated that; “Pubcos (are) exploiting and squeezing their publicans by unfair practices and a focus on short-term profits.” He also recognised that, “there is some real hardship in the pubs sector, with many pubs going to the wall as publicans struggle to survive on tiny margins. Some of this is due to PubCos trying to retrieve their own financial situation at the expense of their tenants.”

However in a letter from Vince Cable dated 9th January which was forwarded to MerseyAle by Louise Ellman MP for Liverpool Riverside, he indicated that he was NOT going to act to change the highly controversial Beer Tie used by all the PubCos. This is very disappointing as most commentators have called for action on the Tie, especially the introduction of a right for all PubCo licensees to be able to order at least one beer free of the tie. In the letter he wrote:

“I would also like to be clear that I am not proposing to abolish the beer tie. The evidence strongly suggests that the tie, per se, is not the issue: when operated as envisaged and fairly, it is a valid

business model being used responsibly by companies both large and small and, were it to be removed, the British brewing industry could be significantly disadvantaged. What is clear is that it is the abuse of the tie, like the abuse of rent calculations and other factors, that is causing problems in certain circumstances.”

It should be noted that the proposals for a Statutory Code are subject to a government consultation in the Spring of this year which could lead to changes or even the emasculation of the Code. Further, any legislation is unlikely before the end of this year or later in 2014. We will have to wait to see if the Code has any real teeth to control the PubCos. It is important to bear in mind that the PubCos are a strong lobby which has repeatedly headed off any effective Government action to curb their powers, and doubtless they will similarly seek to influence this consultation.

An early and predictable warning of what to expect from the pub industry came from the Chairman of the British Beer and Pubs Association, Jonathan Neame. The BBPA has a record of acting as the cheer leader for the PubCos. He said; “In the consultation we will be urging the Government to ensure that any statutory process is light touch and cost effective, to protect the consumer from bearing the brunt of unreasonable additional costs.” So you have been warned about what is coming!

It is important that at long last there appears to be recognition from Government that a voluntary code of practice will not work and that there needs

ABOVE: Greg Mulholland MP

LEFT: Vince Cable - Secretary of State for Business

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to be legislation to introduce a statutory code. The Code adjudicator would arbitrate any disputes between PubCos and the lessee publican, and he/she would have powers to impose sanctions and fines on PubCos that fail to comply with the code of fair practice. However we will have to await the publication of the draft Bill to know what the code will say and the proposed level of fines and financial sanctions that can be applied. As always the devil is in the detail.

It is therefore vital that the supporters of curbs on the powers of the PubCos maintain pressure on the Government throughout the consultation period and the drafting of the Bill, so as to ensure that the Code that emerges has some real teeth. Then there is also the sobering thought of how many British pubs will close in the meantime before a meaningful Statutory Code comes into practice. Further the economic failure of the PubCo business model and the ongoing crisis of the Zombie Companies will remain the elephant in the room.

Thanks to MerseyAle where this article first appeared.

Reach 6000+real ale drinkersand pubgoersThe Lunesdale Drinker is the only local magazine to reach more than 6000 discerning real ale drinkers and pubgoers in North Lancashire.

Best of all, advertising costs as little as £3.45 per week.

Call 01524 220 230or visit www.lunesdaledrinker.com

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March’s end to the hated beer duty escalator plus a surprise cut in beer

duty of 1 penny was a huge vote of confidence in beer and pubs. Nearly half a billion pounds has been set aside to fund this duty reduction over the next couple of years. The last time beer tax went down was in 1959! This massive investment will mean fewer pub closures, fewer job losses and lower increases in the price of a pint. Our submission to the Treasury and economic argument around this campaign showed that the beer duty escalator was a failing policy with the heavy increase in duty since 2008 causing a fall in beer duty revenue due to falling sales. This campaign win is a small step to get more people back into pubs and drinking real ale paying back the Government investment through beer and pubs market growth.

A planned 5% increase in beer duty this year was replaced by a 2% cut. In addition, next year beer duty is planned to rise only by inflation not by inflation plus 2%. This excellent news will help keep the lid on beer prices in pubs and avert the necessity for a 10p a pint increase. Many brewers and pub companies have already increased their beer prices this year to reflect increased costs in line with inflation. Yesterday’s Budget news will mean that many pubs will now be able to hold prices for the rest of this year – meaning the full

benefit will be passed onto consumers. We are delighted that both Heineken and Enterprise Inns immediately promised to pass on the penny duty cut to customers.

Of course, the campaign against the escalator was not about securing price cuts for consumers. CAMRA’s overarching aim in this campaign has been to stop tax killing beer and pubs. Yesterday, we came a lot closer to delivering that aim. If the benefit of the Budget’s beer duty change was evenly distributed to each pub it would be worth around £5,000 per pub between now and the next election.

CAMRA (working closely with the BBPA and SIBA) have led a huge year long consumer campaign to secure the end of the Escalator. This campaign has involved getting over 108,000 signatures on the beer tax e-petition. Over the year more than 8,000 CAMRA members have written to their local MPs and as a result of CAMRA’s Mass Lobby day over 200 MPs held meetings with their constituents where they heard directly about the harm being caused by the duty escalator.

The duty escalator remains in place for cider, wine and spirits meaning that regrettably real cider was yesterday hit by a 5% duty increase.

Our challenge now is to maintain our campaigning momentum and to ensure that Budget 2014 contains more good news.

END OF THE BEER DUTY

ESCALATORby Jonathan Mail

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• Up to 16 Real Ales on at once, all on traditional hand pulls

• Varied Menu & Chefs Specials Board• 8 en-suite bedrooms located upstairs

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TADDY’S TRAVELS

Southport: The approach to Southport’s main central avenue could not look

more welcoming, with the alluring neon of The Scarisbrick Hotel which houses Baron’s Bar, an attractively frayed pub with eight hand pulls, and over a decade’s straight appearances in the Good Beer Guide.

The silly costumes of the staff - black tie embossed with the company logo, waistcoat and dark trousers - make them look like characters in a public information film about hygiene from the 1960s. Above the bar, a large flag of Lancashire reminds visitors that the 1974 boundary changes are not universally recognised. Someone comes in, looks at the ales, then orders a San Miguel. The ale drinkers rise in a chorus of disapproving ooohing. The craic in the pub was excellent all night, with a political discussion that got just to the right temperature without boiling over, both fuelled and cooled by (in my case) Southport Brewery’s Sandgrounder, which was so bright it almost sparkled. All ales, regardless of ABV, are £2.10 / pint.

Croston: In Lancashire’s Empty Quarter - the silent flatlands between Leyland and Southport - I met up with my Welsh rarebit for a too short afternoon in Croston, a village which is still pretty even with its lines of sandbags along the streets. I phoned ahead to make sure the Yarrow hadn’t broken its banks again, but the landlady of the Grapes assured me that rubberwear was entirely optional.

On the pavement of the main road, a stray hen pecked her way through some rotting windfallen pears. The Grapes is comfortably bourgeois, and

whilst the Timothy Taylor’s Landlord was in first class condition, the range of ales was a conservative one, focussing on major national brewers, at over £3 a time.

Things improved a good deal in The Lord Nelson, which has a far more locals feel, is cheaper, and had George Wright’s Pipe Dream on. There was merry craic and some speculation about why I’d come to Croston. As one of the inquisitive blokes was leaving, he bid farewell to each of us, and extended his hand towards me.

“Where are you from anyway?”“Lancaster.”“What are you doing here?”“Seeing my bird.”“Who is she?”“I’m not ******* telling you that!”“We’ll find out - it’s a village!”On the deserted single platform at

Croston station, a beautiful gunmetal dusk over the saturated flat fields, a gloss of sunset on the long crystal palaces of nurseries; busy avian chatter. I wish I had left it there. Instead, draining too much out of the day, I called in at the Railway Hotel in Preston, with its décor from the 1985 version of the Argos catalogue, pop music pollution, and ordinary beer.

by Tadeusz Szczepanksi

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Mike

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For the second year running Mike Dennison at the York Hotel in

Morecambe treated us at the end of February to a welcome menu of tasty beers from across the country in a range of styles.

Of the light gravity beers, Thornbridge of Bakewell’s 3.5% Wild Swan had aromas of light bitter lemon, a hint of herbs and a subtle spicyness.

Wharfedale’s VPA is a pale golden session ale at 3.6% hopped with three distinct varieties, giving a citrusy fruity experience.

Hop Head from Dark Star’s Horsham Brewery presented a pale golden ale and a floral aroma with elderflower notes from the Cascade hops. This was a full bodies, full flavoured aromatic beer.

In complete contrast their Espresso black beer had an overpowering coffee flavour. This beer is brewed with roasted barley malt and Challenger hops. Freshly ground Arabica coffee beans are added to the copper for a few minutes after the boil giving it a rich coffee aroma.

By complete contrast Skinners from Truro’s Ginger Tosser was a lovely hoppy golden ale with a hint of honey on the palate and a distinct ginger finish.

Different again was Titanic’s Compass. This Stoke on Trent’s beer had a lovely

complex nose, good, dry hoppy flavour and a good finish. Fuzzy Duck’s Pheasant Plucker, a golden beer, slightly spicy with a citrus finish was a little bland on the day.

Robinson’s Build a Rocket Boys was a golden ale with a rich rounded body, subtle tang of malt and fruity aroma. One to remember.

Brains’ SA was a classic copper coloured beer full of nutty richness with a dry finish. A combination of Challenger, Goldings and Fuggles hops gave this beer a lovely character.

Bateman’s Hooker was a light amber beer which presented a spicy flavour with a biscuity finish.

York’s Nordic Fury appeared as a red-hued ale elegantly hopped with Golding and Saaz hops.

One had to have a Mild and Bank Top’s Dark Mild was a winner. Full bodied with malt and roast aromas this 4% beer had a rich mouth feel and a complex palate of roast malt and liquorice.

There was one cider – Hogan’s Panking Pole – a dry cider named after the long pole used to shake the apples off the trees, classically golden and cloudy, but dry on the palate with a strong finish.

YORK HOTEL BEER FESTIVALby Jenny Greenlaigh

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The York Hotel

• Quality Beers, Spirits and Wines•Cask Ales •Darts and Pool

• Outside Patio • Quality Food• Full Sky Sports/ESPN Package

• Free wireless internet

87 Lancaster RoadMorecambe

LA4 5QH01524 425353

www.yorkhotelmorecambe.co.uk

ALL CASK ALES £2 ON TUESDAYS

Thurs 23rd - Mon 27th May

2nd Beer &Cider Festival

Thurs 23rd - Mon 27th May

2nd Beer &Cider Festival50+ Real Ales, Real Ciders &

Continental BeersLIVE ENTERTAINMENT

from Blue Pig Orchestra, Captains Crew, The Alley Cats, Syd Little and others

50+ Real Ales, Real Ciders & Continental Beers

LIVE ENTERTAINMENT from Blue Pig Orchestra, Captains Crew,

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Blackpool, Fylde & Wyre CAMRA Cider Pub of the Year 2012

•Yourround.co.uk National Pub of

the Month December 2012

THE STRAWBERRY GARDENS

THE STRAWBERRY GARDENS

12 Real Ales, 6 Ciders & Continental BeersFood Served Daily until 8pm

www.strawberrygardensfleetwood.co.ukwww.strawberrygardensfleetwood.co.ukPoulton Road, Fleetwood, FY7 6TF • T: 01253 771991

Blackpool, Fylde & Wyre CAMRA Pub of the Year 2013•

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18 | Issue18

BIIAB LEVEL 2 AWARD FOR PERSONAL LICENCE HOLDERS

Courses held monthly in Lancasteronly £120+vat

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• This Guarantee is offered by all banks and building societies that accept instructions to pay by Direct Debits.

• If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit The Campaign for Real Ale Ltd. will notify you 10 working days in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed.

• If you request The Campaign for Real Ale Ltd. to collect a payment, confirmation of the amount and date will be given to you at the time of the request.

• If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit by The Campaign for Real Ale Ltd. or your bank or building society, you are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society.

- If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when The Campaign For Real Ale Ltd. asks you to.

• You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by simply contacting your bank or building society. Written confirmation may be required. Please also notify us.

Join CAMRA TodayComplete the Direct Debit form and you will receive 15 months membership for the price of 12 and a fantastic discount on your membership subscription.Alternatively you can send a cheque payable to CAMRA Ltd. with your completed form, visit www.camra.org.uk/joinus or call 01727 867201. All forms should be addressed to Membership Department, CAMRA, 230 Hatfield Road, St Albans, AL1 4LW.

Instructions to your Bank or Building Society

Please pay Campaign For Real Ale Limited Direct Debits from the account detailed on this instruction subject to the safeguards assured by the Direct Debit Guarantee. I understand that this instruction may remain with Campaign For Real Ale Limited and, if so will be passed electronically to my Bank/Building Society.

Signature

Date

Banks and Building Societies may not accept Direct Debit Instructions for some types of account.

Postcode

Name

Membership Number

FOR CAMPAIGN FOR REAL ALES LTD. OFFICIAL USE ONLYThis is not part of the instruction to your Bank or Building Society.

This Guarantee should be detached and retained by the payer.

Name(s) of Account Holder

Branch Sort Code

Bank or Building Society Account Number

Reference

To the Manager Bank or Building Society

Address

Postcode

Name and full postal address of your Bank or Building Society

9 2 6 1 2 9

Service User NumberThe Direct Debit

Guarantee

Your Details

Title ____________ Surname ___________________________________

Forename(s) _________________________________________________

Date of Birth (dd/mm/yyyy) ____________________________________

Address ____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_______________________ Postcode __________________________

Email address _______________________________________________

Tel No(s) ____________________________________________________

Partner’s Details (if Joint Membership)

Title ____________ Surname ___________________________________

Forename(s) _________________________________________________

Date of Birth (dd/mm/yyyy) ____________________________________

Single Membership £23 £25(UK & EU)

Joint Membership £28 £30(Partner at the same address)

For Young Member and concessionary rates please visit www.camra.org.uk or call 01727 867201.

Direct Debit Non DD

I wish to join the Campaign for Real Ale, and agree to abide by the Memorandum and Articles of Association.

I enclose a cheque for _________________

Signed ______________________________

Date ________________________________

Applications will be processed within 21 days

Campaigning for Pub Goers& Beer Drinkers

Enjoying Real Ale& Pubs

Instruction to your Bank or Building Society to pay by Direct Debit

Please fill in the whole form using a ball point pen and send to:Campaign for Real Ale Ltd., 230 Hatfield Road, St.Albans, Herts, AL1 4LW

Join CAMRA today – www.camra.org.uk/joinus

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