Enterprise wins case against landlord in Brulines dispute

Enterprise Inns has won a High Court dispute against the operator of one of its London pubs, the Bedford in Balham, over the use of Brulines flow-monitoring equipment.

Onifas, a company run by Fair Pint founder Karl Harrison, entered the dispute with Enterprise in March 2010 after it issued an ultimatum that he would remove flow-monitoring equipment at the pub unless Unique Pub Company, which is now owned by Enterprise, did so first.

Harrison, who had concerns over the accuracy of the equipment, challenged Enterprise to seek an injunction which he said would enable him to "ventilate the matter fully in court".

He also publicised calls for tenants to take similar action to remove flow-monitoring equipment in their pubs and repeatedly made allegations about the lawfulness and accuracy of the flow-monitoring equipment installed by Enterprise in public forums, including before parliamentary select committees.

But despite Harrison's attempts to prove in court, with the help of an independent expert, that the flow-monitoring systems were inaccurate, Judge Behrens ruled in Enterprise's favour and granted Enterprise an injunction preventing Harrison from carrying out his threat.

Harrison has also been ordered to pay Enterprise's costs, with an initial payment of £65,000.

Enterprise chief executive Ted Tuppen said: "We are obviously pleased with this result. It has been a drawn-out process but, given the publicity continuously sought by Mr Harrison and Fair Pint, misleading observations and attempts to persuade other innocent parties to follow this course of action, legal proceedings were inevitable. It was a shame this course of action was taken, but Enterprise was obliged to defend its position and we are delighted that the judge found entirely in our favour."

By Neil Gerrard

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