Last orders: Boss of under-fire pub regulator defends her record
The Pubs Code Adjudicator, Fiona Dickie, is preparing to step away early next year. She tells Felix Armstrong why the beleaguered watchdog deserves a future
Can an industry watchdog be effective if it has launched only two investigations in its 10 years of existence? Yes – at least according to Fiona Dickie, the Pubs Code Adjudicator (PCA), who is charged with protecting the tenants of the country’s six biggest pub companies.
In July, Dickie launched an investigation into whether Stonegate, the UK’s biggest pub landlord, has been mistreating its tenants. Eyebrows were raised when it emerged that this probe was only the second since the regulator was set up in 2016.
Earlier this month, the PCA came under further scrutiny when a government review paved the way to reforming the watchdog to make sure it better protects pub tenants.
Though ministers stopped short of abolishing the regulator, they uncovered a number of complaints from among those it represents, including “limited understanding” about its role and “frustration” that the number of investigations it has launched could be easily counted on one hand.
But Dickie, a former judge, told City AM that the pubs watchdog is doing its job.
“If we were launching more statutory investigations, we’d be criticised for being too heavy-handed. So we’re never going to please everybody. That’s not my role,” she says.
“The most serious of our powers is the power of statutory investigation. I can only do that if I have a reasonable suspicion that there’s been a breach of the code. […] But very often, we find ourselves able to use other approaches to ensure compliance with the code.”
The PCA was set up in May 2016 to enforce the newly-created Pubs Code, which set out protections for “tied tenants” who lease a site and buy beer exclusively from a single pub company.
Of the 45,000 pubs in the UK as of 2024, about 13,300 of these were tenanted or leased, according to the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). Most of these operate under the “tied” model. The PCA regulates the six UK companies which own more than 500 tied pubs.
These firms include some of the sector’s biggest names and account for billions of pounds in annual revenue. They are Admiral Taverns; Greene King; Marston’s; Punch Pubs; Stonegate; and Star Pubs, the pub arm of brewer Heineken.
‘We’re not going through the motions’
Beyond formal investigations, the regulator offers dispute resolution between pub firms and their “tied” tenants, and can offer advice about the “market rent only” (MRO) arrangement, by which tenants can switch from the tied model to buy beer and supplies on the open market.
The PCA is dwarfed by the scale of the companies it represents. The regulator occupies a single floor of an office building in Birmingham and – including Dickie – accounts for 12 members of staff.
“We are a small organisation, so we are always looking at proportionate ways to get maximum leverage,” Dickie says. The watchdog has hired social media specialists to raise public awareness of the regulator in recent years, she adds.
When the regulator was set up, then-business secretary Margot James was confident the PCA would “do what’s best for Britain’s pubs.” The watchdog will “improve relationships across the industry and help tied tenants get a fairer deal,” she said.
Paul Newby, the first-ever adjudicator, said upon his appointment: “[I] will work tirelessly to uphold the code and its values from day one. I completely understand and appreciate that there are tied tenants out there struggling to make a living as a result of bad deals with their landlords.”
But many in the sector say the PCA is not fit for purpose. Some figures, like veteran pub adviser Phil Dixon, say the regulator is ineffective, having become little more than a “quango going through the motions”.
Others say the watchdog’s bureaucracy weighs too heavily on pub firms. A person close to one of the regulated companies said they support the existence of a regulator but think the Pubs Code and its enforcement has become outdated and “administratively burdensome”.
“We are happy with our current relationship with the PCA, though our view is that clearer and more regular provision of guidance from the regulator would be to the benefit of all,” they said.
Dickie is staunch in her defence of the watchdog.
“We’re not a quango. We’re an independent public body,” she said. “We’re independent of [the] government and independent of the pub companies, and we are most certainly not going through the motions. We are a regulator with a very broad reach and a really important role in this industry, which is crucial to, you know, our national identity.”
Pub regulator ready to depart
Dickie says her experience as a judge means she is committed to ensuring that the UK’s thousands of tied tenants are treated fairly. “Fair and lawful dealing – in my judicial [and] legal career, that’s the thing that motivated me: doing justice.
“These small businesspeople, working hard, they deserve a fair crack of the whip. They deserve a fair deal in their relationship with their pub company. The pubs code is a good thing.”
Though Dickie stands by the work of the PCA, she is preparing to step aside. Formerly deputy pubs code adjudicator, she was appointed to the helm of the watchdog in May 2020, before her initial tenure was extended by Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government in 2024.
Dickie’s second term runs until May 2027. Is she expecting another extension? “No, I’m not, no. I don’t feel particularly comfortable talking about that. My term of office comes to an end in May, Parliament sets it up like that.
“Nothing lasts forever,” she adds.
As Dickie calls last orders on her time as a regulator, she’s looking forward to spending more time as a regular punter. Her favourite pint? A dark ale, she says, “but I typically end up going for something around four per cent because I can’t handle my alcohol.”