Focus South East: Reading the ban

Sitting in the stylish, slate-flagged garden of the Vine in Tenterden, Kent, under a sunny June sky it was easy to imagine that this was just how the optimists envisioned the post-smoke-ban pub. Then the first drops of a squally shower splashed in the beer and we hurried indoors.

In this climate it's clear the transition to a new age will not be without its pain. Nor can it be avoided.

"The smoking ban was inevitable and no-one would want to go back," says Jonathan Neame when back in the bar. "The world's moved on."

Shepherd Neame, of which Neame is chief executive, was especially proactive in preparing its pubs and licensees for the ban, spending £3m on outdoor areas across its 380-house Kent-based estate.

The Vine, a tenanted-to-managed switch rare these days, is one example, the garden being part of a £650,000 spend that brought the pub up to the new standards of the 21st century.

These are bold initiatives in what Neame admits has been "a tough year".

"Before the ban beer volumes were predicted to be down five to seven per cent and it's been worse than that," he says. "As well as the smoking ban the weather, the credit crunch and micro-market dynamics have all made it worse than the forecasts.

"But food was predicted to go up, and that's happening, and some non-food pubs have done well too," says Neame. "It's difficult to analyse trends

but pubs with a really good ale offer, local food and the right environment have done very well.

"Secondary sites, pubs which tend to sell a lot of lager, have been hardest hit but we're still hearing success stories from them, especially in our London estate. With the smoking ban you've lost one of the reasons for visiting the pub," he goes on.

"Licensees have had to find other reasons, and we've noticed live entertainment is coming back, the grassroots music scene is beginning to show through."

Cask beer, coffee, accommodation and a generally wider offer have been behind Sheps' success stories. "You've got to offer something to bring

customers in," says Neame.

"The smoking ban has raised the bar and I've been very impressed by the attitudes of our licensees, how resilient, positive and professional about it they've been. And they all agree that since the ban pubs are a better environment to work in.

"Some will fall by the wayside," he concedes. "We're losing pubs to the gastro phenomenon and to closure - but the rate of closure is not as fast as people think."

Adaptation is a continuing challenge, too. While Sheps has done most of the big spending, in the coming year pubs will go on receiving lower levels of investment. The focus will be on food and accommodation - and also on beer.

"I want to have targeted strategies for each individual pub," explains Neame. "We have to take more of a retailer's view, looking at the atmosphere and product choice, and give each pub what it needs to appeal to its audience.

"The smoking ban and a recession will only accelerate the long-term trends in the market that mean we have to go on giving people new reasons to visit the pub."