Al Fresco: Gimme shelter

An outdoor area is not only for the summer and should be used all year round. Phil Mellows examines the best ways to keep your customers warm and dry.

Even before the final decision was made to ban smoking in public places wised-up pub operators had begun investing in outside spaces. Many firms specialising in the outdoors have been working ferociously to come up with the solutions that can make the outdoors just as comfortable as indoors for pub-goers.

The leading companies in the field are now providing pubs with a "one-stop shop", offering to help you create an entire, outdoor area, instead of just dropping in a couple of umbrellas.

Since the first mention of a ban, Tony Reynolds, director of Shading by Design, has been drawing up designs at his Shropshire office, applying for local planning permissions and executing installations at a rapidly increasing rate - not just for the small freehouses he cut his teeth on but for many of the major pubcos as well.

"My dealings with bigger companies such as Scottish & Newcastle Pub Enterprises, Punch Taverns and Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries lead me to believe they have recognised this is the time to move the industry forward and they're definitely taking a broader stance than just addressing the smoking problem," he says.

With the ban in Scotland coming into force later this month, Shading by Design has, predictably, been particularly busy with projects North of the border.

"The results have been amazing, despite Scotland having a far from Mediterranean climate," says Tony. "One project we completed in Perthshire last summer resulted in a 300 per cent increase in bar takings on the opening night."

That project is the Dunalastair Hotel in Kinloch Rannoch, Perthshire, where a courtyard area was decked, paved, planted and furnished to catering for 200 people.

Shelter is provided by five 8m x 4.5m umbrellas which have built-in heating, lighting and guttering, plus detachable side awnings that create a completely enclosed space resembling a marquee. And to complete the "extensions", Tony is building a new conservatory for the Dunalastair this year.

"Our customers are delighted because now we can hold Hogmanay parties all year round!" says Dunalastair general manager Peter Sim. "One of the greatest advantages to this kind of solution is that, unlike a conventional extension, there is very little disruption to either the premises or the customers. In fact, the work here took only three weeks from start to finish."

Another firm that has been at the forefront of outdoor development is Indigo, with its extensive range of giant parasols and the largest awnings in the UK. Heated parasols and awnings can be used in most weather conditions, extending your available space all year round.

You can add side curtains, too, creating an additional room at a more cost-effective rate than traditional building methods.

Carol Nicholson, general manager of the New Northumbria Hotel in Newcastle, describes her Indigo solution as "like an extra room".

"They keep the heat in and people can still sit outside during the milder nights of winter. When it rains they really do use the umbrellas as umbrellas".

Indigo's parasols are stronger than average and are wind tunnel tested to withstand up to force six gales and heavy rain.

Guttering can be installed between parasols to create a larger area of unbroken covered seating and quartz electric heaters can create a cosy atmosphere on a cold evening as the canvas of the parasol traps the heat.

Electric heating directly heats the people and not the air in-between and costs less than 10p per hour to run.

The heaters can be attached to a wall or built onto the parasol, keeping them out of the way of customers and children.

Walls can be added to the parasols, creating a marquee structure, again keeping the rain and wind out.

Covers can be sign-written with any logo or text and frames can be powder-coated to match any corporate colours.

The addition of terrace screening, paving, decking, planters and outdoor furniture will all add to the atmosphere.

Pictured: The outdoor area at the Dunalastair Hotel resulted in a 300 per cent rise in takings on opening night.​

Case study: George & Dragon, Quainton, Bucks​

Licensee Darren Curtis, who took over at the Punch Taverns-owned George & Dragon, in Quainton, Buckinghamshire, four years ago, has relaunched his pub as a no-smoking venue by developing an outside area.

"A few months ago we looked at redecorating the pub," he explains.

"About half our customers are smokers and we didn't want the newly decorated pub to be ruined by smoke, so we started thinking about making it completely no-smoking.

"I spoke to customers about the idea and most were more than happy, as long as they had a covered outside area to go for a cigarette.

"So we converted a small area outside the rear of the pub to be used as a smoking area. We don't have a beer garden as such but the patio area at the rear has shelter, benches and a heater so it is well used by smokers.

"Overall it has been a very good move for business. We have lost a few customers but gained even more. There are plenty of new faces drinking here, especially at weekends.

"I think it is a lot better to act now rather than when loads of other pubs are doing the same in preparation for the ban."