PUNCH TAVERNS TENANTS' DEPOSITS

That this House notes that Punch Taverns plc has announced final terms of its proposed debt restructuring to be voted on by the company's bondholders on 14 February 2014; further notes, with concern, that under the terms of the restructuring, £52 million described as Available Cash held outside the securitisations will be injected into Punch B, reducing this reserve to a total of £6 million; further notes that Punch Taverns plc requires its retailer partners to deposit with them cash, as credit collateral, and in its Annual Report 2013 these deposits totalled £22.6 million; recalls that this House has found it necessary to legislate to protect tenants when landlords hold deposits of this nature, with the risk that when they come into financial difficulties they might seek to utilise tenants' deposits for purposes other than underwriting the obligations of the tenant to the landlord; therefore calls on the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills to seek specific reassurances from Punch Taverns plc as to the status of retailer partner deposits and strict confirmation that the funds held as credit collateral from their retail partners is hypothecated to those retail partners in the event of corporate administration; and requests that the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills reviews the law regarding safeguards for small businesses when obliged to place funds at risk with commercial partners as security for their own creditworthiness without reference to the creditworthiness of the other party.