It may have dealt with its debt woes, but the introduction of a new Market Rent Option (MRO) for UK pubs has set troubled pub operator Punch Taverns (PUB) back on edge. The legislation to ban so-called 'wet rent' received Royal Assent on 26 March 2015, but it could take up to another year for the laws to be finalised.
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Encouragingly, management appears to be on the case. Although the group is adamant that the proposed legislation is "contrary to existing legal contracts and property rights", it is already reviewing several tenancy and lease sites and drafting new commercial free-of-tie lease agreements. It's also put several investment-heavy projects on the back burner.