Sales facing 'hiatus' ahead of smoke ban

Pub property sales will pause as buyers take stock, according to Fleurets chairman Barry Gillham.

He expects many licensees will leave the trade and the market will slow down.

"There will be a hiatus rather than a collapse. It will be a bit like when decimalisation came in or when grocers had to switch from pounds to kilograms.

"People who don't want to change will leave the trade and there will be more leases on the market and less people wanting to buy them."

Gillham said that licensees shouldn't necessarily turn their pubs into food outlets

to cope with the ban. "You have to ask yourself whether you entered the trade to run a food pub. If the answer is no, then there are other avenues. If you are into music, be a music pub. If you're into real ale, do that and do it well."

Gillham also said banks will be a lot more cautious about lending money to buyers.

"Banks will want to know their money is safe."

Bar Agency managing director Rachael Peacock thinks the market will slow down ahead of the ban.

"The problem is the uncertainty about when the ban is going to happen and this is putting people off entering the trade."

Peacock said she has been encouraging licensees to introduce a ban and see how it affects trade.

"Banks will lend on a turnover and profit basis, so once this is established, I don't think they will change their lending criteria. They will ignore historical trading figures."