Stonegate pub and bar chain is to be investigated over “unfair” treatment of its tenants.

The Pubs Code adjudicator (PCA) Fiona Dickie said she had reasonable grounds to suspect the pub giant has failed to meet rules requiring fair treatment of its pub operators.

Stonegate may have failed to comply with legal obligations to “provide accurate and transparent information to both its existing and prospective tied pub tenants,” the PCA said.

Dickie said her annual research into the satisfaction level of pub tenants revealed “concerns and issues” among Stonegate’s pub operators.

The firm’s satisfaction rating has been the lowest of the six regulated pub companies for three years running, she said.  

“Upholding the core principles of the Pubs Code, ensuring fair and lawful dealing and that tied tenants are no worse off than free of tie operators, is our priority,” Dickie said.

Following CAMRA campaigning, the Pubs Code was established in 2016 to level the playing field between breweries and giant pub companies and to give a fairer deal to their tenants. This is only the second investigation in the decade since the code was set up.

The conduct of Stonegate’s business development managers, who liaise between the company and its tenants, is also a subject of the investigation, amid concern that they may not have treated tenants fairly and recorded interactions properly.

The PCA will also look into whether it received all the information it should have from Stonegate about alleged breaches, information that pub companies are required to share with the regulator.