NO-SMOKING PUBS, YOUR REACTION
NO-SMOKING PUBS, YOUR REACTION
Brodie Atkinson and Steffan Trafford sit under an awning in one of the Dragon pub's adobe-style beer garden seats, and enjoy a couple of roll-your-own cigarettes. "There's definitely specific bars I go to," Brodie said, comparing her pre- and post-smoking ban pub choices. "Places I used to go to, I don't."
Aunit Sandhu, who with a business partner runs the city centre pub, often sees the beer garden fill with smokers while the inside tables fill with people perusing the food menu. She sees nothing but positives after months of mandatory smoke-free pubs.
"Food sales have definitely gone up," she said. "The smoking ban is brilliant."
Of course, one publican's "brilliant" is another's "broken". Want to start an argument among pub landlords and managers? Start asking how pubs are faring since they went smoke-free in July.
Arwel Hughes, cellarman at the Lion pub in Basford, reckons his pub hasn't been hit as hard as other places because it also offers live music and a big selection of local ales.
But he doesn't see any improvement.
"There have been no [increased] food sales," he said. "I don't see hordes of non-smokers bashing the doors down saying 'I always wanted to come to the pub.' I see non-smokers standing around saying 'Why are all my friends standing outside?' Most people I speak to who think it's a good idea don't go to pubs."
Closer to the city centre, however, new customer trends may be emerging.
"We get a lot of office-types coming in now at lunchtime instead of going to a cafe, who want food in a smoke-free environment," said Sam Skinner-Watts, assistant manager at the Lincolnshire Poacher, which has a large beer garden behind its Mansfield Road premises. "All of our regulars that smoke still come in and drink the same, they just go outside to smoke."
Along the same stretch of Mansfield Road, the Golden Fleece recently made a new purchase - a high chair. "We're serving food a lot later now - people seem much happier about eating in pubs now, when before in the evenings all the regulars would be smoking," said landlord James Busby, who also spent £25,000 refurbishing the pub's roof terrace. "There's more kids and more families as it's a more friendly environment."
At the Frog and Onion in Forest Fields, landlord Paul Kennedy's not sure about the commitment of some of the supposed new customers, or of the social implications of going smoke-free.
"The first week the ban came in we had half a dozen non-smokers come in and say how nice it was, order half a pint and leave. Now all the smokers are outside, and so are the non-smokers because they don't want to be on their own. The entrances are the busiest bits of pubs nowadays."
That's not a negative for all, though. The doorway smokers' huddle might just be the new singles' bar. "It's a good way to socialise," Brodie Atkinson said. "'Smirting' - where everyone goes out for a smoke and flirts."
http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk
Brodie Atkinson and Steffan Trafford sit under an awning in one of the Dragon pub's adobe-style beer garden seats, and enjoy a couple of roll-your-own cigarettes. "There's definitely specific bars I go to," Brodie said, comparing her pre- and post-smoking ban pub choices. "Places I used to go to, I don't."
Aunit Sandhu, who with a business partner runs the city centre pub, often sees the beer garden fill with smokers while the inside tables fill with people perusing the food menu. She sees nothing but positives after months of mandatory smoke-free pubs.
"Food sales have definitely gone up," she said. "The smoking ban is brilliant."
Of course, one publican's "brilliant" is another's "broken". Want to start an argument among pub landlords and managers? Start asking how pubs are faring since they went smoke-free in July.
Arwel Hughes, cellarman at the Lion pub in Basford, reckons his pub hasn't been hit as hard as other places because it also offers live music and a big selection of local ales.
But he doesn't see any improvement.
"There have been no [increased] food sales," he said. "I don't see hordes of non-smokers bashing the doors down saying 'I always wanted to come to the pub.' I see non-smokers standing around saying 'Why are all my friends standing outside?' Most people I speak to who think it's a good idea don't go to pubs."
Closer to the city centre, however, new customer trends may be emerging.
"We get a lot of office-types coming in now at lunchtime instead of going to a cafe, who want food in a smoke-free environment," said Sam Skinner-Watts, assistant manager at the Lincolnshire Poacher, which has a large beer garden behind its Mansfield Road premises. "All of our regulars that smoke still come in and drink the same, they just go outside to smoke."
Along the same stretch of Mansfield Road, the Golden Fleece recently made a new purchase - a high chair. "We're serving food a lot later now - people seem much happier about eating in pubs now, when before in the evenings all the regulars would be smoking," said landlord James Busby, who also spent £25,000 refurbishing the pub's roof terrace. "There's more kids and more families as it's a more friendly environment."
At the Frog and Onion in Forest Fields, landlord Paul Kennedy's not sure about the commitment of some of the supposed new customers, or of the social implications of going smoke-free.
"The first week the ban came in we had half a dozen non-smokers come in and say how nice it was, order half a pint and leave. Now all the smokers are outside, and so are the non-smokers because they don't want to be on their own. The entrances are the busiest bits of pubs nowadays."
That's not a negative for all, though. The doorway smokers' huddle might just be the new singles' bar. "It's a good way to socialise," Brodie Atkinson said. "'Smirting' - where everyone goes out for a smoke and flirts."
http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk
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