JDW to ban smoking across estate by 2006
by John Harrington
JD Wetherspoon is to ban smoking in all of its 650 pubs by May 2006 because too many non-smokers are staying away from smoky pubs.
The Wetherspoon ban will come in two years ahead of the Government's plan to ban smoking in pubs that serve food.
Sixty of the company's pubs will become completely non-smoking on Wednesday, 4 May this year.
The move comes despite Wetherspoon's non-executive chairman Tim Martin saying in March last year that it would be "commercial suicide" for a pub company to ban smoking without a nationwide ban from the Government.
Martin, who came out in favour of a complete ban by Government last year, said: "An increasing percentage of the population are giving up smoking and a significant number of people are staying away from pubs and restaurants because they are too smoky.
"Wetherspoon pioneered non-smoking areas, but we now feel it's the right time to go one step further. The Government's approach to the issue of a smoking ban does not make sense, since pubs can get around it by giving up food sales.
"We believe the Wetherspoon approach of a complete ban after a period of notice is the right one.
"About 25% of the population smoke compared with 50% 30 years ago and about half of those who smoke want to give up."
He added that there is a lot of anecdotal evidence of people not liking pubs. "A lot of middle-class doctors and lawyers go to pubs less frequently purely because they don't like the smoke," he said. "Pubs have marginalised themselves."
The policy change at Wetherspoon comes just one week after the company opened its first non-smoking pub George's Meeting House in Exeter.
Among the pubs that will introduce the ban in May are venues in Aberdeen, London, Newcastle, Glasgow, Bristol, Birmingham and Nottingham.
Federation of Licensed Victuallers Associations chief executive Tony Payne said: "If he wants to do it with his estate then that's all well and good, but don't expect others to follow.
"We are working with the Government to provide smoking areas."
Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers chief executive Nick Bish said he did not believe this decision was meant to have any impact on the smoking ban debate.
"I don't think they are doingit for political reasons," Bishsaid. "Wetherspoon's is a highlyeffective company and most decisions they make are based on what will suit their business.
"The way things are going, every operator has to decide what best suits their business."
Analyst Geof Collyer, of Deutsche Bank, said: "We expect the group to take a pragmatic approach if the trial is a disaster then we would expect the process to be dropped in favour of going out with a total ban in 2009."
