In 1989, licensing legislation passed by

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

's Conservative government made it possible for a tied pub to stock at least one guest beer from a different brewery. The

Monopolies and Mergers Commission The Competition Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under competition law in the United Kingdom. It was a competition regulator under ...

was concerned that the market concentration of the big six brewers at 75% represented a

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...

situation. The Supply of Beer (Tied Estate) order of 1989 (better known as the "Beer Orders") allowed publicans freedom to buy non-beer drinks from any source (not just the controlling brewery) and to sell at least one draught beer from a different brewery. In addition to this, many of the larger brewers were forced to sell many of their pubs off, with the intention that they would become free houses or pass on to smaller brewers, hence increasing choice and free trade. One consequence of this legislation was that the brewers sold off their less-profitable pubs. Following a Government review in 2000, the Beer Orders were revoked by early 2003.Revocations of Monopolies and Restrictive Practices Orders – BERR
Although no longer required, it is still common for pubs offering

real ale Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for beer that is "brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous car ...

to offer rotating guest beers from breweries other than the supplier of their standard range of ales, to offer variety to their customers.

References

Pubs in the United Kingdom {{UK-law-stub