It has now been more than 10 years since the smoking ban came into force across England in 2017. The act made it illegal to for people to smoke in any enclosed work places throughout the country. This legislation particularly affected the look of the country’s pub scene.
But, exactly how has the UK’s pub scene changed since then? Here, Flogas, which are specialist LPG suppliers to pubs, investigates…
Support for the ban
Surveys by YouGov certainly suggest that a lot of the UK’s public still back England’s smoking ban. One study by the organisation involving over 10,000 adults revealed that the level of public support across the country now stands at 83 per cent. Even 52 per cent of those who smoked on a daily basis supported the legislation — only 25 per cent opposed the ban.
YouGov also discovered when they polled over 4,000 adults that almost three-quarters who answered wouldn’t be in favour of the ban being overturned. In contrast, only 12 per cent are holding out hope that the legislation one day disappears.
Health of staff
One huge benefit which has resulted from the smoking ban has been the healthiness of bar workers, if the results of The Impact of Smokefree Legislation In England: Evidence Review are anything to go by. The research commissioned by the Department of Health revealed that the exposure of bar workers in England to second-hand smoke has reduced by between 73 and 91 per cent in the 10 years since the smoking ban took effect.
When measured, their respiratory health has also greatly improved. This is highlighted by a study of 178 bar workers from 46 bars in three urban and two rural geographic areas in England, which found that the percentage of those reporting respiratory illness dropped from 67 per cent pre-ban to 40 per cent in 2008 — just a year after the legislation was introduced. There has also been a rise in the number of people who decided to stop smoking since the smoking ban. In fact, Cancer Research UK found that the number of smokers in Britain has dropped by 1.9 million since the smoking ban was introduced.
Falling pub numbers & Britain’s ideal pub
Unfortunately, when analysing the UK’s current pub scene, not all of the figures are positive. This is because the 2018 edition of the Campaign for Real Ale’s (CAMRA) Good Beer Guide published in September 2017, revealed that there are under 47,000 pubs now situated across the UK. This number is down significantly from the 75,000 pubs which could be found throughout the nation in the early 1970s when CAMRA was formed. Furthermore, the guide calculates that 21 pubs close in a typical week at the moment.
Of course, these falling numbers are because of various factors. For one, there’s the rise in tax applied to drinks served, and then there’s the economic crash of the late 2000s. This means average real-terms pay is still below that recorded in 2007. However, some are of the belief that the smoking ban has had a key part to play, with smokers’ rights lobby group Forest’s Simon Clark underlining that its impact has been “devastating”.
So, what does the public think Britain’s ideal pub should look like in modern day? YouGov Omnbius research has shed some light on the subject and could prove very useful to pub owners and landlords who are desperately seeking to keep punters coming through their doors. According to the study, the single most important element that people would be looking for in Britain’s ideal pub would be that it served meals — 67 per cent picked up on this characteristic. The fact it had a beer garden was the next most important feature (63 per cent acknowledged this), followed by the need for it to have a fireplace (52 per cent). Here’s the remainder of the results:
- 51 per cent would like bar staff to know regular customers by name and take an interest in everyone.
- 50 per cent would like it to sell snacks.
- 37 per cent would like it to serve real ale.
- 35 per cent would like it to host live music.
- 35 per cent would like it to play background music.
- 34 per cent would like it to host pub quizzes.
- 32 per cent would like it to allow dogs.
- 27 per cent would like it not to allow children.
- 25 per cent would like it to have bookcases full of books.
- 24 per cent would like it to have either a snooker or a pool table.
- 23 per cent would like it to serve cocktails.
- 18 per cent would like it to show football and other sports.
- 17 per cent would like it to have televisions on the walls.
- 17 per cent would like it to have a dart board.
- 16 per cent would like it to have Victorian architecture.
- 14 per cent would like it to have leather seats.
- 13 per cent would like it to provide tankards.
- Nine per cent would like it to have at least one quiz machine.
- Six per cent would like it to sell cigarettes and/or tobacco.
- Five per cent would like it to have at least one fruit machine.
The YouGov Omnibus research has also found that over three-quarters would prefer their ideal pub to not be too busy or too quiet. Just 17 per cent answered that they would prefer it to be always quiet and a mere four per cent frequently busy.
Views on pub gardens
The YouGov Omnibus research has already shown that beer gardens are extremely popular for pub-loving Brits and Cuprinol offer further insight into why they are so appealing.
A study by independent research company Fly Research for that six in 10 Brits are happy when they go to a beer garden, while 53 per cent stated that the setting is the perfect way to spend an afternoon out with friends and family.
However, the study also revealed that 61 per cent of Brits believed that landlords regularly fail to get the most out of their outdoor space, with 34 per cent acknowledging that they would be willing to spend more time in a pub’s beer garden if it was more welcoming in its design.
So, what can landlords do to enhance their pub’s beer gardens? To start with, they should take note of Cuprinol’s top five unwelcoming traits of a beer garden…
- 73 per cent find cigarette butts in a beer garden an unwelcoming trait.
- 69 per cent find dirty furniture and decking an unwelcoming trait.
- 58 per cent find rotten wood an unwelcoming trait.
- 57 per cent find a beer garden being situated in a dark and dingy space an unwelcoming trait.
- 51 per cent find chipped and peeling paint an unwelcoming trait.
Press Manager for CAMRA, Neil Walker, also advised: “Pubs are closing at an alarming rate, so it’s important that landlords make the most of any outdoor space… When the sun is shining, there really is no better place to enjoy a pint of real ale than in a well-maintained British beer garden.”
Factoring in changing drinking habits among adults in Great Britain
When it comes to the nation’s current pub scene, something else that needs to be considered is how our drinking habits have changed in the UK in the past decade or so.
This is after the data by the Office for National Statistics discovered that 56.9 per cent of respondents to the organisation’s Opinions and Lifestyle Survey drank alcohol in the week before they were interviewed for the study in 2016. While still a healthy percentage, it represents the lowest proportion of adults who said they drink alcohol since 2005. The same survey also revealed that just 9.6 per cent of adults in Great Britain said in 2016 that they drank alcohol on five or more days in the average week, while 20.9 per cent now deemed themselves as being teetotal.
This kind of stats can encourage landlords and pub owners to make their establishments appealing to more than just those who are after an alcoholic drink — such as serving meals and snacks, as well as hosting pub quizzes and live bands as established in the earlier mentioned YouGov Omnibus research.
