Posted on 08/24/2006 7:11:23 AM PDT by SittinYonder
THE smoking ban has had a dramatic effect on Scotland's pubs, leading regulars to stay at home and causing an 11 per cent drop in drink sales, the leading trade body said yesterday.
Releasing the results of the first major survey of its membership since the ban came into force in March, the Scottish Licensed Trade Association (SLTA) said the results were far worse than the 7 per cent downturn it had predicted.
Paul Waterson, the chief executive of the SLTA, said last night that his organisation was considering seeking compensation from the Scottish Executive for its members who have lost business or may have to shut down.
Mr Waterson said the crunch would come over the winter months, when smokers may decide to stay away rather than stand outside shivering on the pavement.
But anti-smoking campaigners said the survey showed that predictions of pub closures and massive job losses had not materialised, while the Executive urged licensees to exploit the new opportunities the ban afforded.
The SLTA's survey revealed that 46 per cent of licensees reported a drop in visits from regular customers since the ban on smoking in an enclosed public place came into force. Only 5 per cent reported an increase.
More than half - 51 per cent - reported regulars were spending less and only 7 per cent more. Food sales, widely predicted to increase, were also down 3 per cent.
The SLTA survey said losses had not been counter-balanced by new business from non-smokers, with 20 per cent reporting more new customers or more frequent visits but 17 per cent reporting fewer.
Mr Waterson said : "We were told that business would improve as a result of the ban, something we never believed.
"Now even our prediction of a 7 per cent loss of business which came from the Centre for Economic and Business Research has proved optimistic. The myth of a bright new future for the industry is just that. What we are seeing is a rapid decline of customers who find it easier to grab a few supermarket cans than put up with the restrictions of smoking outside.
"The hoards of non-smokers who were said to be waiting for a smoking ban before coming to pubs have not materialised. There have been some new customers but the income from them is not enough to offset losses."
Mr Waterson warned the drop in sales threatened the survival of many pubs. "We're not going to see swathes of trendy city- centre bars closing. What we've always said is that the traditional Scottish pubs, very often the social centres of their communities, would be under threat and I think that has been held up in these figures.
"Whether we like it or not, the life-blood of the traditional pub, unfortunately still tends to be smokers. They are now buying alcohol from supermarkets to drink at home. When they go to the pub, the amount of time they spend outside smoking on the pavement adds up to loss in sales over the months.
"An added problem is that a number of these pubs are also 'landlocked' which means they don't have the room to put tables or canopies outside which in turn makes the pub less attractive for smokers."
On the compensation issue, Mr Waterson said the SLTA was compiling more research into the effects of the ban and intended to monitor the data over a 12-month period.
"The problem we have is that we have to prove business is down. The figures after three months are a lot worse for food and drink than expected even with the World Cup, a good summer and tourists."
Mr Waterson admitted the survey, which was based on 365 SLTA members, was small considering Scotland had more than 5,000 licensed premises.
However, he said the survey was detailed and covered a range of establishments from pubs to country hotels.
But Andy Kerr, the health minister, urged the licensed trade to exploit marketing opportunities provided by the ban.
"I have not met a single person who wants to turn the clock back and re-introduce smoking in restaurants and pubs - indeed feedback to me has been quite the opposite. While it is too early to say precisely what the impact in Scotland is, there is no evidence to suggest that pubs, cafes or restaurants will go out of business as a direct result of the smoking ban coming into effect."
"Seven out of ten people don't smoke and of those who do, seven out of ten want to give up," he went on.
"This presents huge marketing opportunities for the hospitality sector. People do not go out just to smoke and drink, but to socialise with friends and colleagues."
Maureen Moore, the chief executive of the anti-smoking campaign ASH Scotland, said prior to the legislation the licensed trade predicted a "huge" profits decline, mass job losses, and the possible closure of 142 average-sized licensed premises.
"This scale of devastation has clearly completely failed to materialise. Six weeks ago the SLTA criticised ASH Scotland for publicising reports from publicans of how positively Scotland's smoking ban has come in.
"They claimed it would take at least a year to be clear on the impact of legislation, and said we were talking premature nonsense.
"Now they are publicising the unsubstantiated opinions of a small minority of their members, without factoring in all the wider economic pressures on pubs and small businesses, and presenting these as if they told us something meaningful. It smacks of desperation."
Ben McKendrick, policy manager for the British Heart Foundation Scotland, said publicans should be "commended" for the smooth implementation of a ban which would save thousands of lives.
"Whilst there are bound to be issues with such a change, we must keep sight of the reason for it - lives are at stake. The ban is already having a positive impact on the country's health. Evidence from the Scottish Executive suggests that, for more than a third of smokers surveyed, the ban had helped them to reduce the amount they smoke."
A tale of two bars The Bank Hotel
THE smoking ban has been good news for the Bank Hotel in Edinburgh.
Joe White, manager of the landmark building on the Royal Mile, above, said the controversial measure had resulted in an increase in customers.
He said: "I think we have benefited from it so far.
"With us being an old building, the ventilation was not always great, but since the ban we've definitely had a lot more people coming in.
"They tend to be in their 20s and 30s, mostly students, tourists and young professionals."
Mr White admitted that having room outside for tables might be partially responsible for the positive effect on business.
He said: "The weather has been great this summer and people have enjoyed sitting outside in the Royal Mile watching the world go by.
"About the time of the smoking ban, we decided just to go for it and revamped the menu and got more parasols and windbreakers set up.
"The ban has been beneficial for my pub and my staff are a lot happier, too. Even some of the staff who were smokers felt the place could get too smoky inside. Happier staff leads to better customer service and, ultimately, to new customers."
He added: "Everyone was expecting a lot of trouble enforcing the ban, but in the end it was an anticlimax."
The Bowlers Rest
ROSS McKenzie, above, who manages The Bowlers Rest in Mitchell Street, Leith, said the smoking ban had dented takings and driven away some regulars.
The family-run pub is owned by Mr McKenzie's father-in-law, Eric Morrison, a well-known Leith figure.
"Our customers are traditional Leithers and many of them want to smoke, he said. "Our customers range in age from 18 to 86 and they know what they want.
"We have a good local trade, but we knew we were going to have a problem because we only have a 3ft pavement outside so there was nowhere to put tables. All we could do was put ashtrays outside.
"So far, we've lost about six really, really good customers because of the ban. They would rather go somewhere where they can stay outside rather than having to be going in and out to smoke.
"Those customers who are outside having a cigarette are not drinking as much, and this is affecting takings.
"I would say that the ban has not had a bad effect, but we have noticed there has been a loss of trade."
The Bowlers Rest is an example of a "landlocked" pub with nowhere to build an outdoor area for smokers.
"There's not a wall we could knock down and there's no space to put up canopies for people to sit under with their bar snacks," said Mr McKenzie.
FWIW
Nanny State Ping...........
You are correct.
My wife doesn't allow me to smoke in the house, so I'm screwed if I can't go to my favorite pub and smoke.
I have ambivalent feelings about these laws.
On the one hand,...I like being able to sit at a bar or going out to a club without coming home smelling like the testing lab at Philip Morris.
On the other,...I think it should be left up to the bar/club owners to decide whether to allow smoking in their establishment.
The land of William Wallace has been emasculated. How sad.
I'm shocked. SHOCKED, I tell ya. Every city where the HealthNazi's have taken over and banned smoking have seen bars go out of business.
I can't decide if the nannies are blithering idiots and believe their own propaganda releases, or if they are just abject liers.
A combination of both. They have lied so much they actually do believe their propaganda.
Wait till they move to the phase where they ban outside smoking too.
Face it. Lots of people like to smoke with their drink. It makes both more enjoyable. Even people who don't smoke when they're NOT drinking.
You say that like it's a bad thing (from the healthnazi point of view). Great Britain and Ireland are going to lose their neighborhood pubs, just like America did its neighborhood taverns.
"I'm shocked. SHOCKED, I tell ya. Every city where the HealthNazi's have taken over and banned smoking have seen bars go out of business."
And that's a two-fer for the Nanny State. They want to regulate our lives, because we're too stupid to do it ourselves. Remember the story about Texas police going into bars arresting people for being drunk in public? They have a plan, and it's going to come down to:
1 - Eliminate smoking, totally. Make it illegal everywhere but inside your home, with a filter. And make it an EPA job to clean your home if you want to sell it, and smoked in it.
2 - Do a similar thing with drinking. Make drinking a totally unacceptable activity. Raise insurance rates for autos and healthcare if you admit to being a drinker of any amount.
3 - Target the overweight. If you are overweight, jobs will be more difficult to get. Discrimination will be acceptable, including increased health insurance rates. Create a whole new arm of bureaucracy to deal with fat people.
4 - Target those who are out of shape. At this point there won't be enough fat people to support the new department of wellness. So, they'll just find another way to inject themselves into your life.
Next will be targeting entertainment activities, gun ownership etc. You get the idea.
Think it won't happen? I think people from the late 1800s would be totally SHOCKED at how intrusive the government is now. Sheeple will put up with it, because it's for the children.
"But anti-smoking campaigners said the survey showed that predictions of pub closures and massive job losses had not materialised,"
They forgot a word.
"Yet"
It's only been a short while. Wait until the end of the year when these people total their books.
Some of them may need to clean out their ventilation systems, paint the walls, and clean the upholstery in order to get rid of the tobacco stench. Then they can advertise their clean air. The ones that take charge will survive and do well. The ones who whine and claim victim status will go out of business.
"I can't decide if the nannies are blithering idiots and believe their own propaganda releases, or if they are just abject liers."
The latter. Like all good socialists they're not ones to let the truth get in the way of achieving their goals. I'm smoking my last cigarette this Friday, for my own reasons, but I still think anti-smoking brigade are a bunch of lying control-freaks. Their objectives go far beyond protecting non-smokers from second-hand smoke (an overstated danger IMO, anyway), to actively making it so unpleasant to be a smoker (by denying the ability to even have separately ventilated smoking areas, or banning smoking even on patios) that people will be forced to quit. I don't believe it is their place to do so.
Just smoke in your half of the house...
I'll get flamed, but what this complacent cow of a country needs is for the fit to hit the shan in a big way.
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