Smoking ban

[spudbasher]

Has the smoking ban benefited or hindered the survival of british pubs?

 

[dennisking]

As a non smoker pubs are a more pleasent place, however I think they have hit the publicans takings. I would not fancy standing out side on a wet and windy winters day. But it is nice to come home and not smell like an ashtray.

 

[Aleman]

Smoking ban hasn't really hit pubs . . . the global recession, and cheap booze in supermarkets has really been the nail in the coffin

 

[dennisking]

Smoking ban hasn't really hit pubs . . . the global recession, and cheap booze in supermarkets has really been the nail in the coffin

Agree but I also think its another reason. A bingo hall near me has shut and they blame that on the smoking ban, cant buy that in supermarkets. On holiday in Ireland a few years back people told me it too it took a several years for pubs to recover, the fact we have hit a recession as well won`t have helped.

 

[mugsey53]

as an ex landlord , yes of course we loose money, a drink and a smoke go together,,,,
who wants to freeze there nuts off outside .

 

[aneray]

Totally agree with Aleman on this one.

A lot of the regular customers have stopped using the pub in the village I work in. They do come out occasionally, but at weekends a lot of them club together by visiting the local shops and supermarket for beer, food and a film to watch.

The smoking ban doesn't bother them, but the prices in the pubs do.

 

[Mike1981]

Smoking ban hasn't really hit pubs . . . the global recession, and cheap booze in supermarkets has really been the nail in the coffin

I think what aleman says here wraps it up in a nutshell in my opinion

 

[LewisA]

Smoking ban hasn't really hit pubs . . . the global recession, and cheap booze in supermarkets has really been the nail in the coffin

I think what aleman says here wraps it up in a nutshell in my opinion

+ 2

 

[BarnsleyBrewer]

Non smoker here too :thumb:
I also hated it when I came home from the pub smelling of smoke, especially from the snooker club on a Friday.

I personally welcome the ban, especially in pubs and cafes that serve food.

BB

 

[Cussword]

Smoking ban hasn't really hit pubs . . . the global recession, and cheap booze in supermarkets has really been the nail in the coffin

I think what aleman says here wraps it up in a nutshell in my opinion

+ 2

I'll go with that, I like the local, but why would I go when I get all my friends round for a game of pool & a few drinks for a lot cheaper :thumb:

 

[Growler]

Here in Coventry it seems to be the brewery that is putting the pubs out of business!!!!
They seem to be putting the rents up to stupid amounts for local pubs that is those out of town and near housing estates as when they go bust they sell them off for development!
If the locals don't want the pub site closed and protest they close them any way and within weeks the pub mysteriously burns to the ground so the locals have nothing to protest about and then 30 tiny boxes are built on the site

Those pubs they don't kill quick with the rents they are killing slowly with the price of the beer it's around £3 a pint and there are only 2 of around 15 pubs in Cov city centre that serve anything like real ales

 

[screamlead]

I used to go quite regular to a local Working Mens club on a fri and sat before i moved out here - the place used to be bunged solid with entertainment etc etc with about 300 peeps every week.

I went back after the smoking ban came in over there and there was only about 12 - 15 regulars left, they had set up 2 gazeebo's out side - 1 for smokers and 1 (heated)!!! fir non-smokers!! - Pathetic! so yes i think it has affected the pub trade big time - prices for drinks have had to go up to compensate for the loss of trade.
I think thats the reason why home brewing has gained a lot of interest in recent times too and also many people are setting up bars in their own garages so they can sit and enjoy a *** and a pint.

It came in here 2 years ago in Turkey but to be honest it don't really effect us in the same way because for one its a damnd site hotter here and no one bothers about smoking outside as we are looked after better with fires if it gets cool and big screen TV'[s for the footie too - and the bars are all geared up for outside entertaining anyway as most are too small to hold that many inside anyway.

You cant get better satisfaction than having a few mates round drinking 'real' home brewed beers and lagers rather than having to pay through the nose for that watered down rubbish a lot of pubs are flogging off as real beer or having to put up with undressed alchololic foul mouthed trollops out for a binge and a spew!!!

Thats my ten penneth on it anyway!!

 

[graysalchemy]

I think it was a combination of things, but smoking ban didn't help. Cheap supermarket booze is probably the biggest contributor as people either drink at home or if they are going out have a drink before they go out. However a lot of pubs have closed because the tenants can't afford the rent. The business model that the pub co's adopted usually have a sliding scale of rent and beer prices, the more successful you become the more they charge you, until it is uneconomical to open your doors. And why do the pub co's do this? because in turn they are mortgaged up to the hilt and beyond, so they need high rents to pay back the loans used to set up these companies in the first place and pay dividend to the share holders.

 

[spudbasher]

Well, lot of opinion there ,most of it true .
My own take on it is yes , it has had an influence.
You could argue that smokers are doing their bit to kill pubs off by voting with their feet,but are more non smokers going out to pubs now to compensate? Doubt that personally.

I think pubs need all the help they can get ,they are an important part of our heritage ,unique to us ,I have had some of my happiest times in dingy dive bar back street boozers and I, like Olly Reed have met some of the best people I know in pubs,the draconian measures put in place are badly thought out and another step along the path to the "birth ,school,work death" mentality our "leaders " want us to adopt.

I have never smoked ,I hate it,both my parents and numerous relatives and friends have died from smoking related diseases ,my son suffers from asthma ,but still I don't want to turn into an anti smoking nazi, I,m sick of people who "know better than me " engineering my life.
People who want a smokers only pub should be able to have one, I wont go there ,but I would support them fully.

The way I see it ,its the thin end of the wedge ,what next ,a limit on alcohol consumption? Surely a good thing ,baring in mind the damage it does. Enforced diets? Speed governors on cars? We seem to have lost the will to rage against the impositions that are forced on us almost daily . I hope i,m not the only one who still gets angry ,they say we get the government we deserve,maybe we do ,but how bad does it have to get before we wake up? Smoke I say and in your pub if you want,choose your own death, dont let them just work you into the ground , that's if your lucky enough to have a job.
Sorry about the rant.

 

[Vindiv8]

I spend more time in pubs now than I ever used to before the smoking ban. A local community group I am on the committee meets most times in or local, we never would have done that before the ban. Quite often we pop to the local spoons for a quick cheap meal and a decent pint. You have to wonder why spoons are bucking the tend and opening new pubs, they must be doing something right/different.

I agree pub co's are greedy, but many pub co pubs are also a success. How many people who campaign against their local closing actually use them regularly, can't be many otherwise they wouldn't be closing the pub in the first place. Most pub co's are in the business of running pubs, not selling land, otherwise they would soon sell all their portfolio and soon be out of business. I do think cheap supermarket booze is a problem, but I go to a pub for the atmosphere or the food and if the beer is poor, I won't return. Price is rarely a deciding factor, I would rather pay £3+ for one decent pint in a good pub than have a four pack of Fosters :sick: Saying cheap booze is killing pubs is a bit like saying Tesco value meals are killing restaurants.

 

[BarnsleyBrewer]

Saying cheap booze is killing pubs is a bit like saying Tesco value meals are killing restaurants.

Nice one.lol :thumb:

 

[graysalchemy]

Price is rarely a deciding factor, I would rather pay £3+ for one decent pint in a good pub than have a four pack of Fosters :sick: Saying cheap booze is killing pubs is a bit like saying Tesco value meals are killing restaurants.

That is true but most pubs clientèle traditionally are people who want to drink six pints of fosters and have not had the benefit of an educated pallet. There simply isn't enough people prepared to go out and pay £3.00 for a decent pint of real ale, and so pubs are closing. Were you do have enough people you get some rather good real ale pubs and pub restaurants which are doing a roaring trade.

 

[Vindiv8]

Price is rarely a deciding factor, I would rather pay £3+ for one decent pint in a good pub than have a four pack of Fosters :sick: Saying cheap booze is killing pubs is a bit like saying Tesco value meals are killing restaurants.

That is true but most pubs clientèle traditionally are people who want to drink six pints of fosters and have not had the benefit of an educated pallet. There simply isn't enough people prepared to go out and pay £3.00 for a decent pint of real ale, and so pubs are closing. Were you do have enough people you get some rather good real ale pubs and pub restaurants which are doing a roaring trade.

I think the problem is more deep rooted in society, people drink purely to get drunk. I personally don't like the sensation of being drunk, I just (really!) enjoy the taste. There has been many failed attempts to give us a continental approach to drinking, and they have all failed. I do think people are starting to appreciate a well made pint, and many are trying real ale. Take a trip to the Sheffield Tap, where prices can be £5-£6 a pint, and you can't fit through the door, a few years ago, you would have never seen this. How many of these closed pubs sold only John Smiths, Fosters and Stella, probably quite many. If you went into a restaurant and they offered you a Tesco value meal at 4x the price, quite rightly you would never return. Pubs need to add value whether that's a massive choice af ales, good food, a fun quiz or friendly atmosphere with a roaring fire. People won't pay for a sticky carpet and a grumpy landlord.