The Punch position: Smoking

We have now experienced a full year of trade under the smoking ban in England and Wales and this has been much as we expected. As in Scotland, the majority of our licensees have coped well with the changes and we have seen non smokers and families returning to our pubs.
 
We were well prepared for the ban in both the leased and the managed estates. We supported our licensees within the leased business through a ‘No Action No Option’ campaign. This involved an educational programme to adapt and respond to changing consumer demands, introducing improved external retail areas, smoking facilities, staff training and ways to improve their overall retail experience. It was aimed at attracting new customers, not just keeping customers who smoked.
 
We invested over £10m across the estate to ensure that our pubs and licensees were ready ahead of the ban, being the best in their market place, with the right skills and facilities to minimise the inevitable impact of such a significant piece of legislation.

Since the smoking ban, food has become increasingly important to the success of our pubs and we have responded in our leased business with a dedicated catering development team delivering individual and specific support to our licensees which ensure they have a profitable food offer which is competitive in the current market place.