Smoking out a bargain?

Ted Tuppen's comments that the sale of Enterprise Inns' entire 137-strong Scottish estate was strategically driven should be taken at face value, though one can be forgiven for daring to think that by selling to Robert Tchenguiz's R20, the UK's second largest pub operator believes the smoking ban is a burden too far.

Tuppen was at pains to stress the opposite - "it does exactly what is says on the tin", he said - but news of the deal came as The Publican's own Food Report survey of licensees in Scotland showed a third believing trade would decline as a direct result of the ban.

For some operators, getting out now offers a better prospect than waiting for the full impact of the ban to become apparent some months hence, while those taking up the challenge clearly see the world differently.

Enterprise Inns might not necessarily fall into the former category, but a number of pubs are suffering under the new rules. Some operators say smoking isn't having a "drastic" effect on trade. We won't really know the full picture until next March, when the ban's first anniversary rolls round.

With 89 per cent of its pubs blessed with outside smoking facilities Enterprise still has 750 or so that aren't. Some will doubtless trade well, but we may see more churning, though perhaps not on the scale of the group's recent mega-deal with Admiral.

Meanwhile Brakspear's decision to sell up to JT Davies is another chapter in the 'to trade or not to trade' story. As the offer document put it: "The benefits available to Brakspear shareholders are immediate and certain, against the potential future returns from remaining a Brakspear shareholder."

I imagine we'll hear more such sentiments in the coming months.