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Wetherspoon predicting gains from smoking ban

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Published Date: 07 September 2007
THE smoking ban will be to the long-term benefit of the licensed trade, according to leading pub group JD Wetherspoon.
The chain has 40 pubs in Scotland, including five in and around Edinburgh, such as Foot of the Walk and Standing Order.

The company said that when the ban was introduced in Scotland it put considerable pressure on sales and margins, before trade staged an "encouraging recovery".

It said its outlook remains "cautious" for 2008 because of the uncertainty in the market south of the Border following the recent introduction of the ban there.

The comments came as the chain, which currently has a planning application in for the South Bridge site of former clothes store Flip, unveiled pre-tax profits for the year to July 29 up six per cent to £62 million.

A smoking ban came into force in England on July 1 and the company saw like-for-like sales rise by only 1.1 per cent in August, compared to 5.3 per cent in the month immediately following the ban.

JD Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin said: "We have no doubt that this legislation will be to the long-term benefit of the licensed trade."

John Hutson, the firm's chief executive officer, said: "The amount of people that smoke is falling every year. Those who do are increasingly affecting those who don't.

"Unless smoking was banned, that would have made pubs more unpopular, so our view is that the ban can be positive and make pubs more popular places."

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  • Last Updated: 07 September 2007 10:34 AM
  • Source: Edinburgh Evening News
  • Location: Edinburgh
 
1

Petroleum Head,

Edinburgh 07/09/2007 12:44:56

It's not gains due to the nazi state smoking ban, it's gains due to upping their prices and putting more emphasis on food.

Why do we always have to be fed spin?

2

Ian on 2-wheels,

Edinburgh 07/09/2007 13:17:40

I applaud their comments. Landlords who recognise this opportunity to make bars attractive places to go will flourish. Landlords who think bars should stink of fag-smoke and urine will go to the wall. I have friends who have a growing chain of Edinburgh bars and they are using their imagination to make them attractive to a wide range of customers, their business is on the up since the smoking ban.

3

Andrah,

Embru 07/09/2007 17:41:12

Good news from JDW. Pubs in Scotland, and recently, England too are much more pleasant to visit with the absence of irritant and carcinogenic fug.
A pity some folks can't get over the fact they can no longer spew their toxic filth over others. Just like throwing your cr*p out of the windows in Edinburgh's medieval old town, things have thankfully moved on.

4

David from New Mills,

Pleasantville, U.K. 07/09/2007 20:00:50

#2, Petroleum Head, Edinburgh.
PH and his ilk are persistently so myopic, that they are constantly compelled to resort to Godwin's Law as their sole means of argument.
Is their real fear that the majority of people are becoming so accustomed to fug free pubs, and actually enjoying the new, pleasant atmosphere, that as time goes on, the majority will not want to revert to the previous unpleasant filth?

5

David from New Mills,

Pleasantville, U.K. 07/09/2007 20:06:29

#4, Eddie D.
Eddie D, like PH at #2, seems totally devoid of constructive counter-argument, and can only revert to the same old emotive spin.
Little wonder he fared so badly in the recent Scottish elections. Has he not yet grasped that he and his cohorts are but sad anachronisms?

6

David from New Mills,

Pleasantville, U.K. 07/09/2007 20:09:45

#3 and #5.
Quite so. Let the dinosaurs read and learn. Otherwise they will gradually fade away, and ultimately disappear like a puff of smoke.

7

english charlie,

Suffolk 08/09/2007 08:07:56

John Hutson states that the number of people smoking is decreasing. Well, the the number of people going to pubs is decreasing.
Does this tell him something?
To me drinking and smoking go together. I like a nice cigar, but only with a pint.

8

David from New Mills,

Pleasantville, U.K. 08/09/2007 11:52:31

#9, chas winfield, Suffolk.
Does chas feel that all these ex-smokers will stop visiting pubs, and if so, why? Or have they literally died off?
Chas is always welcome to enjoy his cigar in the beer garden.

9

David from New Mills,

Pleasantville, U.K. 08/09/2007 11:54:49

#5, Andrah, Embru.
Andrah should try not to mention chamber pots, as it drives Stef mad.


 

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