With its £2 million fine on Heineken, the watchdog has called time on predatory pub companies

Until today.

The battleground was the 2015 Pubs Code, where tenants were allowed to break the ties with the big pub companies, paying a higher rent in return for ordering their beer from other suppliers.

The big pubcos hated the new regime.

Tenants say they acted like bully boys, demanding that those applying to go tie-free still supply only their beers; in Heineken’s case, an unappetising roster including Newcastle Brown Ale and Foster’s.

For those considering breaking the tie, that was a big problem; Brits are increasingly only interested in pubs with wider selections of craft-brewed tipples. Serve up the same tired old brews every week and the punters will go elsewhere.

The behaviour of Heineken reported in today’s watchdog report beggars belief. Pubs, some of whom stocked no Heineken brews, would be ordered go to 60% of its beers in return for breaking the tie.

This was a major barrier to tenants seeking independence; a cynical effort by pubcos to subvert the Code and continue the pre-2015 status quo.

Repeatedly, tenants won arbitrations against it but the brewer carried on its behaviour.

Its claims to have reformed were “not credible”, the regulator says.

A £2 million fine won’t touch the sides at Heineken, but it’s a stark warning to others. It’s long past last orders for predatory pubcos.