Heineken-owned pubs group faces probe over eviction threat
One of the UK’s biggest pub chains is facing a potential probe by the UK’s pubs watchdog after it threatened to evict one of its London tenants.
Star Pubs, which operates more than 2,000 sites across Britain and is owned by Dutch brewing titan Heineken, has been told it will be referred to the Pubs Code Adjudicator (PCA), which investigates the conduct of pub companies towards their tenants.
The owners of the Park Tavern in south west London have sought the help of the PCA after Star Pubs terminated their tenancy and threatened to evict them.
The pub giant has threatened to take Park Tavern’s owners to court if they do not vacate the premises, in multiple lawyers’ letters seen by City PM.
But Amir Matinahmadi – who runs MFM Pub Group, which operates the Park Tavern – has said he is prepared to fight a legal battle against Star Pubs.
Matinahmadi claims that he invested more than £150,000 into the site and turned the pub into a “thriving part of the community”.
The Park Tavern was leased from Star Pubs under the “tied pub” model, which requires tenants to buy beer and other supplies directly from the landlord.
MFM Pub Group claims that the pub firm cut off the site’s supply of beer while attempting to force its exit before slapping them with a £3,500 charge for buying supplies elsewhere.
Star Pubs has hit back at the claims and said it was not possible for the tenants to remain at the pub “due to a number of serious breaches of their lease”.
“In the interests of the staff and customers, we have no reasonable alternative but to take this action,” a spokesperson for the group said. “The Park Tavern is a lovely pub in a great location; we plan to reopen it as soon as possible after having undertaken some essential repairs. Longer term, we hope to carry out a refurbishment of the pub’s ground floor trading area and the outside of the building, which are in need of investment.”
Heineken pub firm could face fine
Matinahmadi wrote to Star Pubs last week to tell them that he plans to refer the firm to the pubs watchdog, claiming it has violated its obligations to deal with tenants fairly and lawfully.
“We’re not walking away: we dispute that our tenancy has ended, we’re referring Star’s conduct to the Pubs Code Adjudicator, and we intend to defend our right to stay,” he told City PM.
Star Pubs was set up in 2008 after Heineken acquired a string of UK pubs as part of its takeover of brewing firm Scottish & Newcastle.
The pub owner posted a £32m pre-tax profit and took £186m in revenue in the year to December 2024, according to its most recent accounts. The group owns around 2,400 pubs in the UK.
Last month, the PCA launched an investigation into Stonegate, the UK’s biggest pub landlord, over concerns that it has been mistreating its tenants.
The watchdog, led by adjudicator Fiona Dickie, is charged with upholding the Pubs Code, which was set up in 2016 to level the playing field between breweries and giant pub companies and to give a fairer deal to their tenants.
Stonegate’s probe was only the second investigation launched in the decade since the code was set up.
The PCA regulates a group of member companies including Star Pubs, Greene King and Marston’s. If the watchdog finds that a pub firm has breached the Pubs Code, it can impose a financial penalty of as much as one per cent of its UK turnover.