Winter is the smoking ban test for Edinburgh pub

Smokers gather under the roofed veranda as clouds overhead betray the fact that it is the dying days of summer. A soft wind blows, the rain is just about holding off.

This is the scene on a late September afternoon in the smoking area of Punch pub the Moorings in South Queensferry, Edinburgh.

Developed for the March 26, 2006, start date of the smoking ban in Scotland, the facility has so far been successful in retaining smokers' business, according to licensee John Kennedy and Punch regional estates executive for Scotland Andy McPherson.

The real test though, as with pubs throughout Scotland, is yet to come. The Moorings' smoking area is a clean, modern area with modest shelter from the elements and impressive views of the Forth Bridge.

Yet, however nice a smoking area is, the proposition of standing outside for a leisurely draw will prove less attractive when the weather worsens. Scotland is not exactly known for its balmy climate.

"We will have to see the winter through before we can tell if we have been stung," says Andy. "October and November will be the real litmus test."

Nevertheless, the smoking area is an example of pubs north of the border making a bold attempt to batten down the hatches for whatever smoke-free legislation throws at the trade. The Moorings' story is a guide for English pubs to follow.

Approximately 40 feet by 25 feet, the area comprises a veranda with a roof adjoining the main building and a beer garden equipped with tables, seating and two jumbrellas.

These have heaters and lighting built in, as does the veranda. Most of the floor is covered in decking, there are wheelchair ramps and the pub's rubbish collection point has been boxed off from view. The area is accessible from the bar by two doors, one created for the new development.

When news of the smoking ban began rumbling in the distance, the Moorings' existing beer garden represented an obvious opportunity to cater for smokers. John set about planning a radical overhaul of the area in mid-2005.

Punch, for its part, picked out the Moorings as a pub which could be a flagship for its preparations for the ban. The beer garden could be relatively easily adapted, and it was in a good location.

The Moorings was to become one of the first pubs across Scotland for which Punch applied for planning permission to adapt the premises to become smoke-free.

John admits he "had not thought on such a grand scale" as the pubco's proposals, but with a £25,000 investment promised by Punch - the majority of the overall £35,000 cost, he was more than willing to go ahead with its plans.

However, it took six months for planning permission to be granted. "All councils are difficult, but Edinburgh is notorious," says John. "They will object to someone putting up a bin."

Andy gives a slightly more diplomatic explanation. He suggests that, as the Moorings was one of the earliest pubs in Scotland to engage with the new laws, it inevitably suffered from teething troubles councils experienced.

The development delivered up a host of other problems for John (see box, right), many of which might not be immediately obvious to licensees planning a smoking area.

Aside from the new regulations, John had to consider environmental inspectors' concerns about noise, and the Disability Discrimination Act's disabled access requirements.

Sales since the ban came in the Moorings' sales figures since the arrival of the ban are illuminating. The area was only completed one month after March 26. In this period, receipts fell by 10 per cent, says John. Since its completion, business has returned to the level it was before the ban.

"Action on Smoking and Health's view of non-smokers flooding back to pubs is nonsense," says John. "You either like coming into a pub or not. Our regulars are so important. Some weren't coming in before the area was finished, and those that were, weren't staying as long."

Of the local pubs he counts as direct competitors, John predicts he is in a better position than any to survive and prosper under the ban.

He is planning further measures to improve the area, including two more jumbrellas, an extension to the beer garden's walls, TV screens facing outwards through the windows, and music piped though outdoor speakers.