What the Sunday papers said
English publicans have been served notice that they can expect to see beer sales slump by four per cent after the introduction of next month's smoking ban, writes the Independent On Sunday. The paper says according to research firm Nielsen pubs will sell 200 million fewer pints over the next 12 months as smokers shun them to stock up at the off-licence for a session at home. Pub chains have scrambled to refurbish their outlets, install smoking shelters in their gardens, and spice up their food menus in an attempt to stop customers deserting their premises after 1 July. - Independent On Sunday
The rebranding of the recent Artois tennis tournament is a sign of the times for Stella Artois' maker InBev, says the Observer. Stella remains the biggest player within the UK's premium lager sector, but recent sales patterns are not encouraging. According to recent figures, sales volume fell by over 10 per cent in the previous year. InBev's announcement in April that it would be raising the price of a pint by a further 12p provoked a reaction among parts of the tabloid press that must have led it to wonder whether 'reassuringly expensive' might soon become 'prohibitively expensive'. - Observer
Pub landlady Christine Davis's regulars are so miserable she has replaced Happy Hour with 'Grumpy Hour', according to the Sunday People. Instead of having fun, customers are allowed to moan constantly with their surly chums for 60 minutes. The unconventional hour at the Bishop Blaize in Romsey, Hants, is so popular Christine has now issued the whingers with polo shirts bearing pictures of Snow White's Grumpy. - Sunday People
Shocking CCTV footage shows the final minutes of a barman who drank himself to death by downing the equivalent of 17 pints of lager in two hours. The chilling pictures of Stuart Foster's last moments were released by his sickened dad Willie to warn about the dangers of binge drinking. The film shows colleagues at the Cavendish nightclub laughing at Stuart's comatose body, taking pictures of him slumped on the floor and repeatedly pouring water over his head to try to revive him. He died later in a colleague's car from alcoholic poisoning. The club had its licence suspended for three months after Stuart's death. It has now been renamed Lava and Ignite. Owners Luminar declined to comment. - Sunday Mail
