Learn from experience

From 6am Sunday, all enclosed public places in the UK will become smoke-free zones.

Cigarettes will be banished from pubs, bars and nightclubs in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. As fears mount over a loss of revenue, SA Brain has discovered that there are solutions.

The Welsh brewer and pubco prepared for the ban in advance, by rethinking pub design, food and entertainment on a case-by-case basis. This careful thinking combined with practical measures helped Brains weather the storm when the Welsh ban hit on April 2. However, Brains is keen to stress that post-ban circumstances can be difficult, and offers some sound advice to English publicans.

The brewery started planning for the ban two years ago, by tailoring changes to individual pubs to help retain sales and attract new business. A number of its pubs went smoke-free early and outdoor areas were built.

Brains says it is important to retain smoking customers by giving them a place to relax, but also sees the ban as a chance to up their offering and attract more trade.

The company began a programme of steam cleaning across its pubs, started installing Puro fairtrade coffee machines and revamped the menus.

In order to appeal to all diners, there are seven menus that include variations of traditional Welsh dishes, each targeted at a specific type of pub and clientele.

One budget menu, 'More For Less', offers meals such as fish and chips and lasagne at £3.99 each. It is already used in 15 pubs, and will be introduced to more over the next few months. However, there is no point in making changes to your premises if nobody knows about them, so Brains launched a direct mail campaign to drive the message home. The flyers are bespoke and give details of the resident¹s nearest pub plus discount vouchers.

Chris Hewin, marketing manager at Brains, hopes this will encourage non pub-goers to give their local a go.

"It's not just a communication it's a call to action," he says.

The smoking ban is clearly a signal that pub retail is going through continual change, so as well as finding ways to be able to accommodate people, it's finding ways of changing and improving the retail offer to attract more people in the future. Hewin says preparing for the ban has been a long but valuable process.

"It's all about long-term planning, and making sure we had a robust plan in place so we were able to minimise the potential negative impact," he says, adding that it's never too late to make changes and it is important for smokers to feel welcome post-July 1.

"The key thing to remember is that despite the fact there¹s a smoking ban, what you don¹t want to do is ostracise smokers," says Hewin.

"They are still a valued part of customer business that needs to be cared for."

Brains spent a long time planning for the ban and their efforts appear to have paid off. With specific changes aimed at community, city and residential settings it has ensured all sectors of its client base are catered for post-ban, and guaranteed that a smoke-free environment does not sound the death knell for the British pub.

The community pub: the Newbridge, Cardiff​

The Newbridge is in the middle of a housing estate, joined to a betting shop. The pub has been refurbished, gone smoke-free and introduced food for the first time via the 'More For Less' menu. Joint licensees Tommy and Trish Bolton are thrilled with the results.

"Before we opened people said they couldn¹t see themselves coming here," says Tommy. "Now they say 'why should we go to McDonalds when we can get a nice meal up here?'" They come in for their meals with their kids at half term when they can't be bothered to do the food, and Fridays and weekends are very busy." He points at a family tucking into fish and chips. "That family over there, I don't think they'd been here three times before the food. Now they are regulars," he explains.

Trish says the simple new menu has made food preparation easy.

"If you come with four people, it's four people served at the same time. With this menu it's so easy, you just put the meals on the table and give the customers a courtesy check," she says.

The pub also has a new entertainment system and hosts events every night, including skittles, pool, bingo, karaoke, and quizzes. The couple says the surrounding area is under redevelopment and they expect to pick up more trade when houses and shops are built at the back of the pub.

"It's like one big happy family in here," smiles Trish.

The city centre pub: the Old Arcade and the Goat Major​

Brains sought a more extreme solution for city centre pub the Old Arcade (pictured), which is situated on busy Church Street and backs on to Cardiff indoor market. With no room for expansion the company decided the back of the building would be sacrificed and the roof would come off.

"Even though the pub is landlocked we weren't going to turn around and say there wasn't a solution," says Hewin.

"We gave up part of the trading area and created in essence an inner city centre yard." People can now walk through patio doors at the back of the pub and enjoy a pint and a cigarette under a retracting canopy. There are four tubs of flowers in the area and customers can activate timed wall-mounted heaters if they get cold.

The pub re-opened six months ago and is doing well. Pub manager Nick Newman admitted the changes had been disruptive but the pub was now reaping the rewards: "What we noticed was that when people had the choice of going to a non-smoking or a smoking pub, the sales were struggling a little, but since there's been a level playing field everyone's coming back." Down the road, the Goat Major proved more difficult to modify. The traditional-style pub sits next to Cardiff Castle and again is hemmed in.

Brains looked at the floorplan but could not find anywhere to put a shelter, so it decided to provide white branded umbrellas so customers can "Borrow a brolly if it Brains" when they nip out for a smoke.

The suburban destination pubs: the Romilly Hotel and the Pendragon​

Around the corner from the Robin Hood - a pub previously owned by Charlotte Church's mum - in suburban Cardiff lies the Romilly Hotel.

Venture into the beer garden and you¹ll find a brand new smoking area complete with a roof, a flat screen TV, speakers and heaters.

"I'm thinking of taking up smoking now because the smokers get a better deal than the non-smokers," laughs licensee Ian Jones as he stands under the new roof.

"In the summer it's really great because the sun shines here all day." The wet-led suburban pub is popular with professionals, and Jones says the shelter has found favour.

"When we heard about the smoking ban we left it for a month and found out from customers what they wanted," he explains. "Feedback has been good and we sell more food now."

Brains has built shelters in most of its pubs, and the Pendragon is another typical example. The roadside pub attracts an elderly clientele and has a large decking area, proper furniture rather than patio furniture, and branded no-smoking signage, in order to make smokers feel at home.