Will Pubs Survive?

[manxchatterbox]

heard recently on MR someone from Lic Vit being encouraged byStu Peters to talk up the potential adverse impact of the proposed smoking ban - now the brewery have stuck up its prices...

 

surely putting the prices up invokes the laws of diminishing returns...

 

As for smoking bans an article on the BBC says:-

 

the Brewery group Diageo, which has seen its pub trade decline 8% as the off licence trade has improved 3% - was also cautiously optimistic.

 

"The jury is out," said spokeswoman Jean Doyle.

 

"The feeling is that in the short term there could be an impact, but it remains to be seen.

 

"Pubs may actually become more attractive because of the ban, research has shown certain people are put off by smoking - the atmosphere, the smell on their clothes."

 

Some pubs in the capital have started to prepare for the ban with wall-mounted ashtrays outside and heated outdoor areas for smokers.

 

NY BAN - TOBACCO LOBBY*

17% fall in waiter/waitress jobs, bartender numbers down 11% after the ban

33% of establishments have reported an overall decline in jobs since the ban

Two thirds of respondents say they now have fewer customers than before the ban

*SOURCE: International Communications Research

 

 

its probably only the inherent value of the property portfolio that's supporting IOM Breweries B/s so if perhaps I were a shareholder I might be thinking about a call to Ramsey Crookall & Co with a sale order...

 

what does anyone else think about the price rises and impact on foot fall through the doors....

[Mission]

Are the price rises not linked to the recent budget?

 

I didn't actually look at the budget this year so have no idea but it's usually a given that fags and booze go up around this time of the year.

 

As to the other, I think it will probably have an initial detremintal effect on trade but it will encourage those that don't go to these establishments to give them a try I guess.

[sarahc]

Dunno but when I went to a club in Dublin post-smoking ban the whole place stank. It seemed to me the smell of cigarettes had been hiding a rank, damp, feet-like smell....

Is the smell of cigarette smoke doing us a favour? Will we be bemoaning the demise of ciggies in Paramount in a few years' time?

[Gladys]

Dunno but when I went to a club in Dublin post-smoking ban the whole place stank. It seemed to me the smell of cigarettes had been hiding a rank, damp, feet-like smell....

Is the smell of cigarette smoke doing us a favour? Will we be bemoaning the demise of ciggies in Paramount in a few years' time?

Good point Sarahc! Pubs used to smell delicious years ago when you walked past, it was the mix of beer and fags that gave them a certain aura, a sense of the forbidden! And, as we all know, smell is one of the most evocative senses, it can take you back years without consciously thinking about it, almost to a pin point in time. However, a fetid, foot-rotting smell will only take you back to the last time you came across someone with poor personal hygiene! Just today, as it happens!

[LoneWolf]

Good point Sarahc! Pubs used to smell delicious years ago when you walked past, it was the mix of beer and fags that gave them a certain aura, a sense of the forbidden! And, as we all know, smell is one of the most evocative senses, it can take you back years without consciously thinking about it, almost to a pin point in time. However, a fetid, foot-rotting smell will only take you back to the last time you came across someone with poor personal hygiene! Just today, as it happens!

 

I was in Dublin and in Cork last year spending a weekend in both. The pubs in Dublin seem to have fared much worst than those in Cork as a result of the smokong ban.

One old guy told me most of the characters had stopped going to the pubs and the craic wasnt half as good as a result!

You are right about the aromas coming from pubs. It all contributes to that special atmosphere.

There seems to be something missing in the Irish pubs now.

Pity

[Hugh Jampton]

The cupboard was bare this evening so I ventured up the Cat with no Tail. A meal and a pint of bitter gave me 40p change from a tenner. The male staff seems to have skipped the charm school and when my delicious meal was served, the woman on the neighbouring table lit up and just left the fag smoking while she continued chatting.

Next time it will be a chinese take away for £5 and a bottle of bitter £1.50 at home. Bugger the pub

 

I never thought an ex Bushy's man would get to this sad state

[LoneWolf]

The cupboard was bare this evening so I ventured up the Cat with no Tail. A meal and a pint of bitter gave me 40p change from a tenner. The male staff seems to have skipped the charm school and when my delicious meal was served, the woman on the neighbouring table lit up and just left the fag smoking while she continued chatting.

Next time it will be a chinese take away for £5 and a bottle of bitter £1.50 at home. Bugger the pub

 

I never thought an ex Bushy's man would get to this sad state

 

Maybe thats part of the problem. Who the hell wants to eat in a dense cloud of smoke.

The only food available in pubs at one time was a pork pie maybe or some crisps and peanuts.

Some of us prefer it that way. Lets face it food kills the bitter !

[Declan]

Simple answer ban food in pubs!

 

I think the tobacco ban is inevitable, and I don't think long term it is gonna have in impact on a pub's trade. There will be a short term effect, but we'll learn to live with it.

 

More worried in clubs and at gigs where you can't just nip out for a fag tbh.

[Tempus Fugit]

the last report I had about the cat was that the meal was awful, the waitress knocked a drink all over the table and people's clothing and didn't even do anything to clean up or replace the drink

 

the previous meal some time ago was good, so what went wrong in the mean time ?

[MrsTrellisfromNorthWales]

This will come as a surprise to the "drink is so expensive" brigade.

 

Last year, Gordon Brown revealed that drink is now 54% cheaper relative to incomes than in 1981.

 

We're binge-drinking because we can afford to like never before.

 

And in December, I went to Dublin on holiday specifically because it had banned smoking in pubs. It was marvellous.

[lectro]

Repeating myslef here from another thread...

 

The pubs in Ireland were losing trade in the 2-3 years prior to the ban. It has nothing to do with smoking but more to do with the greedy publicans who have been driving up the price of drink for a long time. The supermarkets on the other hand have been lowering their prices hence a rise in people drinking at home. There is not a single poor publican in Ireland - pubs around the country have been changing hands for €15 - €20 million.

 

The smoking ban has had little impact on the current trend and in fact pubs serving food have shown an increase in sales. The poor sales figures that the Vitners Ass. keep refering to are for alcohol sales which have indeed fallen due to a combination of high prices (set by them) and the crackdown on drink driving.

 

A clever publican would be able to turn the smoking ban into an advantage in the Isle of Man. All the pubs are the same, and things are going to change. Why not take advantage of this and offer something different?

[Theskeat]

Why go to a pub for a meal when you could go to a resturant, leave the pubs as they are meant to be

[studmuffin]

As a smoker, I would reluctantly go to a pub if it was non smoking and merely pop outside for a ciggy, when required. Problem is that if its a mix of non smokers & smokers in your group I imagine that will not be fun for both parties with people vanishing every half hour.

 

but saying that at least I can pop outside.

 

I will definately be put of nightclubs as a smoker - I cannot imagine meathead (not all of them granted) doorman letting you out for a quick smoke. Lets face it a smoker full of ale is not going to socialise in a place where they cannot get out for a ciggie or if they do have to que to get back in and pay again.

 

I think places like Paramount will suffer badly and pubs not so much. Paramount maybe need to think how they are going to manage this as I suspect it will have a major impact Pubs with beer gardens like Horse n plough and cat with no tail, I doubt it will have much effect.

[ans]

How long before most nightclubs arrange to have an enclosed open air 'room' added to the building for smokers? Is this actually allowed under the act?

 

Some clubs I've been to in the UK have chill out gardens to let people cool down and get fresh air. Rebrand them as smoking areas and your problem is solved?

[studmuffin]

Aye good idea, think its the only way to still attract us healthy smokers !