It’s early days yet, but research from the Publican magazine and soft drinks company Britvic suggests that three quarters of pubs are happy with the smoking ban which kicked in the UK in July. They’re selling more food and more soft drinks — there are more kids and pregnant women going to the pub.
I know I’ve certainly found pubs more pleasant in the last few months, and it’s been nice to get friends out who would normally avoid the pub because of the smoke because they’re asthmatic, pregnant, or just don’t like it. For me, at least, the atmosphere of most pubs has got better in part because I’ve got better company.
The article says that the winter will be the real test of the ban, when people are faced with the prospect of standing out in the rain, snow or frost to smoke. I’ll be interested to see how this goes, but my guess is that it will work out OK for pubs. After all, the lure of a cigarette is surely nothing compared to the lure of booze.
3 replies on “Smoking Ban — landlords like it”
We’ll never go back now. Smoke free pubs for the rest of my life. Great.
Yes, no chance of going back. I do get annoyed when smoking friends try and cajole you into going outside so they can smoke though, even when it’s bloody cold or the interior of the pub is far more pleasant.
Stonch, you make a good point. The kind of friends who were inconsiderate about smoking in my face in a hot, crowded pub are now inconsiderate about where we sit on a parky day. B***ards.