Smoking ban good for sales says pub firm

ALASTAIR JAMIESON, Consumer Affairs Correspondent

PREDICTIONS that the smoking ban would hit pubs across Scotland have been dismissed by one of the country's leading chains. JD Wetherspoon has unveiled a sharp rise in sales, despite industry warnings that the smoking ban would cause a drop in takings.

However, the company warned that the winter would be the toughest test of the new laws.

The group, which has 39 pubs in Scotland, saw sales rise 5.2 per cent in the past three months compared with the corresponding period last year. It said the ban had boosted sales of food and attracted new customers. In August, the Scottish Licensed Trade Association (SLTA) said a survey of 1,700 members found that the impact of the smoking ban had been worse than expected, driving regular drinkers out and causing a 10 per cent drop in drinks sales.

But Jim Clarke, JD Wetherspoon's finance director, said yesterday's figures indicated the ban would not affect the industry as badly as was first feared.

"The smoke-free environment has attracted new people through the door," he said. The company also found that its 56 voluntarily non-smoking pubs in England and Wales had a rise in sales of 2.2 per cent on the same period two years ago, the last time smoking was allowed.

Matthew Gerard, an analyst with Investec, said: "The performance of non-smoking pubs - both north and south of the Border - is better than we expected, a clear positive for Wetherspoon and the rest of the pubs sector."

However, Mr Clarke added: "We still think it is too early to judge the longer-term impact of non-smoking in Scotland, and conditions may be more testing in the winter months."

Paul Waterson, of the SLTA, said: "We are hearing more complaints about dropping trade because of the smoking ban now than ever before, so I suspect that the sales of food may explain Wetherspoon's figures."