Third Party Surveyors can be BDM’s

Recently published PCA arbitration (in which PAS represented the tied tenant) highlights an interesting case of a valuer from a firm of Chartered Surveyors who despite being contracted in by a pub company was actually found to be acting as a Business Development Manager (BDM) under the pub’s code regulations.

The actions undertaken by the third party amounted to regulated activities and were arbitrable by a tied pub tenant, the Pub Company Star Pubs (Heineken) had tried to argue that third parties they use for rent review were not regulated persons or regulated activities capable of arbitration but the Arbitrator ruled otherwise.

This sends a clear message to outside Pubco valuers and surveyors that they can be acting under the code and the pub company held to account by the PCA later on, the cost of losing arbitrations can cost pub companies tens of thousands of pounds.

Shockingly the PCA has taken 1 1/2 years to publish the outcome of this case – no clear reason has been supplied as to why there was such a long delay in publishing this useful information.

Download your copy of the Arbitration HERE.