Pubs second-guess ban rules
Pub companies are having to second guess the smoking ban guidance as they look to adapt their pubs for the ban.
Charles Wells is to trial different concepts for altering outside areas at a handful of its 250 pubs, as part of its £1m estate revamp project. Different types of pubs have been chosen to represent Charles Wells' diverse estate.
The aim is to complete the projects by mid to late June. Lessons from the trials will be included in a toolkit for BDMs, who will visit every pub with a project manager in late July.
Charles Wells spokeswoman Kate Hempsall said: "If we waited for full guidelines to be released, the rate of work needed to complete would be unmanageable and we've therefore
had to implement a policy to second guess what the guidelines might be."
James Crawfurd-Porter, MD of tenanted and leased operator Tadcaster, plans to put each of the company's 60 pubs into one of three categories depending how much work will be needed to convert the outlets.
He aims to start conversions early next year and the
company will spend "thousands of pounds per unit" where appropriate.
Crawfurd-Porter also plans to "second guess" the regulations. "Provided we don't put smokers in an enclosed area we should be alright," he said.
Greene King has formed a smoking strategy team - chaired by David Elliott, MD of the Pub Partners tenanted and leased arm - to decide the best plan across the managed and tenanted divisions.
An assessment of the 1,300-strong Pub Partners estate has found that 97% of pubs have outside trading areas. Specific plans are being drawn up and are due for release late summer.
Elliott and 12 Pub Partners tenants recently toured Greene King's Belhaven pubs in Scotland to see what lessons could be learnt there.
Every outlet in the Pub Company managed arm has been put into different cate-gories according to the level of investment needed to revamp outside areas for the smoking ban.
But Pub Company MD Mark Angela said: "We are in a Catch-22 situation.
"We don't know yet what the guidelines will be or the issues around signage, shelters, health and safety and noise. If we wait to find out it will be too late so we have to plan for what we think is going to happen."
