Peter wrote ...
> I would quess that the drink driving laws have had a far greater
> effect on alchohol sales in pubs than the smoking ban in country
> areas and to a lesser extent in towny areas .
Well, it's true to say that as the anti drink driving campaign really began
to take hold, a fair few years ago now, I stopped travelling by car to
partake of an ale or two in my then favourite watering hole (The Boat Inn at
Stoke Bruerne) - especially when we moved to a village with a decent pub
However, the drink driving laws notwithstanding, the bars and restaurant at
my local were jam packed every Friday and Saturday night (and busy enough
the rest of the week). Most of the bar trade arrived on foot and most of 'em
are now drinking supermarket booze at home (me included). This includes a
significant number of non-smokers because their friends are smokers
Specifically, and without any shadow of a doubt, immediately upon the
introduction of the smoking ban the number of customers dropped dramatically
and it hasn't recovered as far as the wet trade is concerned. There has, it
is fair to say, been a slight increase in the food side (for no good reason
as the entire restaurant had been smoke free for years) but not enough by a
long chalk to compensate for the lost bar trade.
This is a fact. Plain and simple. It won't change the law (and perhaps it
shouldn't - I've not said it's a BAD law!) and it won't change entrenched
positions but it doesn't matter how many other possible reasons are cited,
nor does it matter how many examples of how well other establishments are
doing, the incontrovertible fact is that the three watering holes in my
village are going to the wall as a *direct* result of the trade lost *since*
the smoking ban came in (and before the "credit crunch" reared it's
{fantastic and much to my benefit} head).
Bru
