Fresh Air, Fresh Thinking: Preparing for the ban

As if their work wasn't tricky enough, the life of a business relationship manager (BRM) has got that little bit tougher with the impending smoking ban.

The fact that such a momentous opportunity for the trade lies on the horizon has heaped pressure on the people whose job it is to filter pub companies' expert advice down to their lessees.

But Punch BRM for South East London Colin Hardy is busy helping his 53 pubs prepare to flourish once the ban starts, and is more than upbeat about what it represents. "We are focusing on the fact that it's an option for improvement, not a threat," he says. "This will lead to a new style of pub and we are trying to get retailers into that mindset."

Licensees Jonny and Claire Henfry are benefiting from Colin's sunny outlook on this occasion, as he makes a site visit to their pub, the Old Nun's Head in Peckham. The meeting forms part of Punch's plans to complete a £270,000 overhaul of the site, and put the finishing touches to a beer garden that will eventually be a smoking area.

Thrashing out the way forward​

Over the course of the meeting, he tells me that the Old Nun's Head, like all Punch's pubs, has been the subject of a structured programme of interaction with a BRM in preparation for the ban. Initially, there is a meeting where the licensee is shown a specially prepared DVD that acts as a presentation on ways to adapt the pub. During this and subsequent meetings, the best way forward for the individual pub is thrashed out, with big investment proposals put to a Punch board for approval. In most cases, Colin maintains weekly site visits with the retailer throughout the development.

Jonny and Claire hold the lease on the Gowlett too, another Peckham pub. Both sites are set to benefit from a two-phase development when the ban hits.

The couple took over the Gowlett three years ago. The first phase involved a speedy redecoration prior to re-opening, transforming it from - in Jonny's words - "a not particularly attractive environment" to a light, airy pub with exposed wooden flooring and new furniture. Phase two, nine months later, saw Punch backing the transformation of a disused yard to a beer garden that will soon provide a smoking area.

The Old Nun's Head was re-opened in October, following the first phase of development - a complete refurbishment of the pub, putting in wood-panelled walls, repositioning the toilets, and ripping up the carpets and tiles on the floor to expose the original wooden flooring underneath. Most importantly for the smoking ban, the outdoor area was repaved, kitted out with sturdy wooden benches, and a fire escape from an upstairs function room was repositioned so as not to obstruct the beer garden.

Phase two will see the addition of awnings and heaters to the outdoor area. Customers can currently smoke throughout the pub, but it will become entirely no-smoking, except for a section of the beer garden, by "early spring", according to Jonny.

Colin estimates that £39m will be spent between Punch and its lessees on building development in the run-up to the ban, and he says that Jonny and Claire's pubs encapsulate Punch's thinking for the ban.

Time will not stand still​

He adds that the couple have shown the perfect response to the changes that must be made. "They have shown they are proactive themselves. We want the people who understand time cannot stand still."

Jonny is enthusiastic about not allowing the smoking ban to compromise his vision for the two pubs. He and Claire are clearly fans of beer gardens, with outdoor space "definitely one of the boxes we had to check when we were looking for a pub".

This looks likely to stand them in good stead. However, he points out that the new laws forcing smokers into these outdoor areas to indulge their habits could have a big impact on how they are run.

In three years, he says, they have had no complaints from neighbours about the Gowlett's beer garden, despite houses bordering it on three sides. "Its about the laid-back atmosphere you create," he says. "It's not about this perception of beer gardens with people shouting and swilling lager."

He believes the ban may compromise that ethos, with more frequent traffic outside, as well as customers having to be outside during all hours the pub is open.

"I can envisage smoking making it a slightly less relaxed atmosphere because more people will be coming in and out. We will have to persistently be on top of the area to get customers inside by the time we want to clear out the garden," he says.

All aspects of running the outside area under the smoking ban will be a trial and error process, he believes. Over the first few weeks the licensee will experiment with the numbers of heaters needed and with re-positioning furniture in the beer garden.

While the appearances of the Gowlett and the Old Nun's Head may be changing, Jonny is keen that nothing should impact on the retail offering to which his customers have become accustomed. "Our pubs are not changing," he says. "All that's changing is a law that someone else has passed."

This confident approach to what could otherwise be a very stressful period would not have been possible without the assistance provided by Punch, a pubco that - like these two lessees - is facing up to the smoking ban without fear.

Jonny says: "Punch has come in with some really good ideas for the ban. While they have to come up with solutions for all types of pubs, Colin's ideas for ours were very suitable. Otherwise I would have been closing the pub up at night and doing research on the internet then."

Punch BRM Colin Hardy's tips on preparing for the ban​

"Look at the space you have and think about how to make the best use of that." As part of the first stage of preparation for the ban, Punch has been distributing to pubs a DVD aiming to establish the development options for different types of pub and provide an action plan.

"Look at your offer. Food is going to play such a major part." Punch's Food Solutions brochure provides information on catering options available to pubs even with the most basic of facilities.

"How are you going to communicate with customers?" Punch has equipped lessees with packs containing beer mats alerting customers to the smoking ban and signs to mark designated smoking areas.

"Phase in the ban." "My ideal situation would be for pubs to be entirely no-smoking before March. I am telling my pubs start phasing it in. At least create a space that is no smoking now."