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Speaking shortly before he was due to give evidence today, Paul Daly, an Enterprise licensee in East London who also owns a freehouse, said he was “shocked at how the pubcos have been able to get away with the way that they have been treating their tenants for so long”.

He added: “I cannot believe the difference in prices that I have to pay for beer in my tied pub compared to my free-of-tie pub. The price I am quoted by my pubco for Carling is 61 per cent more expensive. The pubco model is simply not sustainable.”

But Mr Tuppen expressed surprise at the attack, claiming that when Mr Daly had acquired the tenancy in April he had “freely entered” a contract outlining the precise terms of the beer tie.

Mr Tuppen admitted that the economic downturn had seen an increase in the number of tenants breaching their contracts by buying beer outside the tie.

He said the attitude of some MPs involved with the parliamentary inquiry had created a “Robin Hood element” to the practice, adding: “There’s a sense that tenants who break the tie are somehow escaping the clutches of the evil pubcos.”

But he insisted that tenants who were doing so would be vigorously dealt with. “Buying outside the tie is stealing. When people take on an Enterprise pub they sign a legal contract with clear visibility. The vast majority comply with the terms but we will take action against those that do not.”

Enterprise said that, despite the trading downturn, the annual valuation of the group’s estate had resulted in a 1 per cent uplift to £5.9 billion. Some 4,900 pubs increased in value, while the 2,500 that fell in value were written down by £53 million, taken as an exceptional item.

Mr Tuppen said that he had yet to see any evidence of an improvemnt in consumer confidence due to interest rate cuts and falling inflation, possibly due to the “inexorable rise in redundancies” that were being announced.

“We will have to consider 2009 as a year of recession and only when we approaxch 2010 will be able to see how the land lies. Caution is the watchword.”

Asked whether he might be considering retirement, Mr Tuppen said: “Most chief executives would regard it as an obligation to continue steering the ship when times are tricky.”

Shares of Enterprise, which have tumbled by more than 80 per cent in the past 12 months, fell by 1.5p to 83.5p in afternoon trading.

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