Union offers smoking ban solutions
Most Union Pub Company (UPC) pubs are set to benefit from converted outside areas to help them adapt to the smoking ban.
UPC plans to pay for schemes to revamp outside areas using gazebos, pergolas and umbrellas.
Outside heating and lighting will also be fitted.
The company will decide what is suitable on a pub-by-pub basis. Some sites will see major investment to transform outside areas. Others will receive more temporary "defensive" measures nearer the date of the smoking ban.
UPC will trial different ideas at six or seven pubs in the Burton area.
Investment at these pubs will vary from around £2,500 to £20,000. The pubco plans to film the trials and put them on a DVD and study how each one worked. UPC has already planned what it believes will work best for all its 1,750 pubs.
Company MD Stephen Oliver said he expected the "vast majority" of UPC pubs to take advantage of the scheme in some form.
Oliver said: "Our objective is to help make their pubs more attractive to new customers, such as diners and those seeking smoke-free environments young families for instance, while developing outdoor areas with a range of innovations to accommodate smokers.
"We are determined to be as far advanced as can when the ban comes in, and we want to take the tenants along with us."
Andrew Andrea, former finance director at Wolverhampton & Dudley's beer division W&DB Brands, has joined the UPC board to direct the scheme.
Today's Smoke Vote
The Morning Advertiser will stick with today's smoke vote to bring you the latest news and reaction as it happens.
When the final MP is counted through the chamber of the House of Commons and the result is announced we will post it on our website along with comment from industry leaders on how it will affect your business.
So to be first with the story of any smoke ban click on to Morning Advertiser this afternoon.
