It's time to see the good in the smoking ban and get drinkers to rediscover their local, says Barry Gillham
With Community Pubs Week just past, am I the only one detecting the green shoots of hope in our trade?
Despite all the dire predictions of the likely outcome of the smoking ban (S&N is budgeting for a drop in beer sales), I see few adverse signs.
Consulting Fleurets' statistics, we are still selling as many pubs, with no drop in prices. Banks are instructing us on just as many valuations, indicating that they remain committed to the trade (most loans are to be repaid over 10 years).
Perhaps more interestingly, we are not receiving an avalanche of sales instructions from licensees who want to get out "before it is too late".
I like my local, but I don't like its smoke-filled atmosphere and my wife complains of the smell in her clothes. I will visit more often (and so will she) after the ban. One of my favourite local pubs in Beckenham, Kent, is a real "glue pot" of a backstreet boozer. Its custom is male- dominated, mainly over 45 and with a preference for traditional ale. It has gone smoke-free in advance of the ban and I'm told that business is booming.
I am typical of Camra's statistics. Their research says that 6.2m people who visit pubs regularly will do so more often after the ban, while 93% of real-ale drinkers said they would visit pubs more often or their habits would not change (most smokers are lager drinkers). Other research shows that older people are more health conscious and we live in a society with an ageing population.
So there you have it. Not all pubs need to become restaurants after the ban. Improving your real-ale offer will make you more of a pub - unlike lager, you can't get real ale at home!
David Elliott of Greene King is to suggest to the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) an advertising campaign to promote the pub - as opposed to various drinks. It has also been discussed at the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) council and I know that Peter Linacre at Massive is doing his best to persuade his suppliers to support this excellent idea.
The community pub is enjoying a resurgence. Set against this is news that 1,300 pubs are under threat of closure. This has more to do with prices obtainable for alternative use in a generally booming property market than it has to do with the supposed decline of pubs. Urban pubs are closing rather than village pubs, but we can do without many of the at-risk boozers - there are still too many in inner-city areas. Fewer but better community pubs would benefit all concerned - licensees as well as customers.
The trade needs help in this transitional phase. ALMR has stressed the need for less red tape, a freeze on beer duty and improved capital allowances to assist with outside smoking facilities (I haven't even touched on the problem of over-zealous local authorities).
But everywhere I go (and I am still visiting over 20 pubs a week, on average), I see resilient licensees determined to make their pubs better and more enjoyable for everyone (not just smokers).
We've now got to get the message through to the public: rediscover your local.