Will the smoke clear?

Non-smoking pubs remain few and far between but with careful planning they can prove to be extremely lucrative. Adam Withrington reports.

The most recent progress report on the industry's Smoking Charter stated: "Non-smoking pubs remain a rarity - numbered in tens rather than thousands."

Latest trade estimates seem to prove that, six months down the line, this remains to be the case.

In June, Laurel Pub Company announced that one of its managed houses, the Ring O'Bells pub in West Kirby, had converted to non-smoking status and had enjoyed an unprecedented sales rise.

The Publican last month reported on the success enjoyed by the Queens Arms pub in Bakewell, Derbyshire, since the licensee had introduced a pre-8pm no-smoking rule.

These suggest the general public is ready to embrace non-smoking pubs as a genuine alternative.

However, news that the Railway Hotel pub in Douglas on the Isle of Man, which became a non-smoking venue in June, has already reverted back to smoking status because of plummeting sales figures, undermines that theory.

The fact remains that the type of venue and the clientele has to be right for a non-smoking pub to work.

Oliver Griffiths, from the Atmosphere Improves Results (AIR) initiative, says the conditions have to be right or changing your pub into a non-smoking venue could be a disaster.

He said: "This country is under-served by non-smoking pubs but you have to be the right kind of person in the right type of premises and know what you are doing.

"To have a successful non-smoking pub your standards have to be high. If the pub down the road has the same standards as you then people will probably choose the other pub because it allows smoking. The non-smoking issue doesn't matter that much to most people. So you will end up losing a whole chunk of your business."

In the case of the Railway Hotel the owner, local brewer Heron and Brearley, thought by changing the venue into a non-smoking pub it was fulfilling public demand.

Chris Taggart, retail operations manager, says members of the public had for some time requested that the company turn one of the pubs in its estate into a non-smoking venue.

He said: "We settled on the Railway because it was food-led and recently refurbished. However, once we made the changeover in June things just got worse and worse. The pub's takings halved.

"In one week the venue had the lowest take in our whole estate. People voted with their feet but not in the way we all hoped."

It would be unfair to criticise Hearon and Brearley for the Railway's failure to make a success of being a non-smoking pub. The fact is that the market did not exist in Douglas despite the requests of many locals for a non-smoking pub.Precedent says that to make a non-smoking pub work there has to be absolute determination on the licensee's behalf and a big enough market that is willing to embrace the concept.

John Sims ran the Three Fishes in Shrewsbury between 1994 and 2000 and was one of the first in the country to make his pub completely non-smoking. He believes that a non-smoking pub will only work if you are fully behind it. "I hate smoking with a passion so it was the only option for me when I took the pub," he said. "You have to be committed and serious about the concept - plus the quality of the product has to be paramount. We had six real ales on the bar and an excellent menu. Only then will customers come back. If you are half-hearted it won't work."

The Three Fishes is still a non-smoking pub and continues to be successful. New licensee Avril Wardrop, who runs the pub with husband Adam, says they would never dream of turning the pub back into a smoking venue. "We have doubled the take in the last three years," she said. "While we are a food-led pub, we are on the circuit for people going out for a drink on a weekend. You should see us at 10.30pm on a Friday night - we are packed."

Mr Griffiths believes a non-smoking pub has to offer something quite different from any pub around it, besides the smoking aspect. "If you want to see how to run a non-smoking pub, look at the Ring O'Bells in West Kirby," he said. "That pub has a huge beer garden and excellent kids play area and so it attracts a huge number of families."

Alan Jones, manager of the Laurel pub, says that the opening of a Wetherspoon venue in the area meant that the students, once a mainstay of their business, left and so they had to offer something different for customers.

"There was nowhere for non-smokers to go. We have the right type of premises and offer something that no-one else does. In the first few weeks, sales went through the roof. The figures have now levelled off a bit but we are still well up on our figures before we made the change," he said.So why has the Ring O'Bells worked and the Railway failed, when the Isle of Man venue seemed ideal?

According to Mr Taggart, the Railway was deliberately chosen for being a well-furnished food-led pub, which appealed to families. While luck, no doubt, plays a part, the market has to be there and in the Railway's case it simply wasn't.

This is of no comfort to Chris Taggart: "When we announced we were ending the non-smoking trial we spoke to the health department. There was no protest from it - it just said thanks for trying. We really wish it had worked."

Conditions needed for a non-smoking pub​

Oliver Griffiths from AIR says:

• You have to be a very cool operator. People will expect to smoke in your pub and you have to be ready to be firm with them and ride out any initial protests that might come your way.
• You have to know what you are doing. Recently, a non-smoking pub in Galway, in Ireland, only lasted three months, which is about average for pubs that try the non-smoking experiment without doing the necessary research.
• It's great if you can start it in a brand new venue, where you have no locals already attached to the pub. You will face more problems if there are regulars who have formed an emotional attachment to the pub. Pizza Hut's move to non-smoking will work because no one has an emotional tie to a Pizza Hut.

View of the Charter Group​

Nick Bish, chairman of the Charter Group, which campaigns for self-regulation rather than a government imposed ban, says: "The Charter Group believes that non-smoking pubs are absolutely a good thing, provided it works for the operator and the customer.

The Charter Group would support and applaud that decision because it shows the industry is making decisions that reflect the wants and needs of its customers."