Protect our pubs: Why a new smoking ban could be the final blow to Britain's local heartlands

2 September 2024, 16:41 | Updated: 2 September 2024, 16:44

By Emma McClarkin OBE

@EmmaMcClarkin

• Emma is the chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association

For generations the British pub has been the beating heart of our communities, offering a warm welcome and fending off loneliness.

Pubs are where we meet to celebrate life and death and everything in-between. They are an indispensable part of British life – a town or village without a local pub is unthinkable.

Our pubs have faced fierce challenges over the last few years from Covid, supply chain pressures from the war in Ukraine, soaring energy prices soaring and a cost of doing business crisis. It is through real grit, blood, sweat and tears that so many of them have survived. 

The British Beer and Pub Association’s Long Live The Local campaign, which has hundreds of thousands of signatures of support, is proof that the public want to save this cherished institution as well as its beloved brewers.

Yet now our public home faces yet another challenge—one that threatens its very existence. The proposed blanket smoking ban is poised to deliver a blow to an industry already reeling from the impact of economic pressures and past regulations.

We have seen the consequences of similar measures before. When the smoking ban for enclosed spaces was introduced in 2007, pubs experienced a staggering 10% drop in trade, and for some that figure was even higher, marking the most significant decline in beer sales in recent memory.

The following three years saw an acceleration in pub closures, with more than 2,000 establishments shutting their doors for good. 

This should serve as a stark warning.  

During the general election, the Labour Party rightly recognised the need to bolster Britain’s pubs, presenting a five-point plan aimed at fostering the sector’s growth.

It is, therefore, baffling that the government would even consider bringing in a measure that clearly undermines that goal. At a time when pubs are grappling with the cost of doing business, and the looming autumn and winter months are causing financial worries, the burden of further restrictions would be devastating.   

The Government must reconsider and help protect our pubs, not burden them with policies that threaten their survival. They must put forward proposals on business rates and beer duty reductions that will reduce the cost of doing business, supporting a period of growth and encouraging people to visit their pubs.

Without action to support pubs, our communities will be poorer not only economically but socially - and therefore is something that rightly deserves more thorough analysis and thought. Long Live the Local!

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