Pubs clean up their act
British publicans are worried that a ban on smoking could have a negative effect on their business. In September, therefore, five of the biggest pub groups introduced a partial smoking ban in their outlets. The companies, which between them control a third of Britain’s 60,000 pubs, have committed themselves to banning smoking at the bar by 2006 and to make 80 percent of their customer space smoke-free by 2009. The Irish example - Ireland introduced a ban on smoking in March - has shown that both cigarette sales and pub trade will plummet after a ban on smoking is implemented. In the six months following the introduction of the ban, pub sales in Ireland have fallen 15 percent. Ireland’s smoking ban has also had a marked effect on tax revenues. It would cost the UK economy GBP3..
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