Pub companies' five-year pledge on smoking

Five major pub companies have dramatically ramped up the pressure on the rest of the industry on smoking by signing up to a joint policy on the issue.

Enterprise Inns, Mitchells & Butlers, Punch, Scottish & Newcastle Pub Enterprises and Spirit Group have committed to banning smoking in 80 per cent of the trading floor space of their pubs within the next five years.

The five have also agreed to ban smoking at the bar before 2006.

There appears to have been little consultation with licensees - although the policy will impact on more than 17,000 tenanted outlets across the UK.

The pledge follows a meeting last week, hosted by the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA).

One party which attended - believed to be Wetherspoons - has not signed up to the agreement. Nick Bish, head of the industry's Charter Group on smoking and the chief executive of the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR), also attended the meeting.

Rob Hayward, chief executive of the BBPA, said: "The clear intent is to expand no smoking in pubs and set an ambitious timetable to introduce the changes. This plan is practical and deliverable, and will help pubs to manage change in a way that will be beneficial to society."

Speaking for the ALMR, Nick Bish said: "We applaud any company which can increase smoking restrictions which suit their customers, staff and business. "But it will be a hugely challenging task for them to implement this across their estates."

Mr Bish said he would be writing to members of the ALMR to confirm its position.

Punch licensee Alison Smith of Bar One Nine in Keynsham, Somerset, commented: "I certainly think this will ruffle a few feathers. Licensees will be unhappy because of the lack of consultation. There will be a huge impact on people's businesses."

Punch denied licensees had not been consulted. "We are encouraging retailers to work with the government and trade bodies to reach effective solutions," it said.