‘Kick in the teeth’: Pub landlords say Starmer’s garden smoking ban would hit industry hard

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The founder of a Birmingham venue which spent thousands renovating its outdoor space has described the government’s plans to ban smoking in pub gardens as a “kick in the teeth”.

Jack Brabant, who co-founded Hockley Social Club in central Birmingham, said “a lot of money” had been spent on “making our terraces hospitable and a place where people can relax”.

This included spending thousands revamping the outdoor area - where there are also food stalls - including a new smoking area, ensuring there was a “space accessible to anyone” as well as a “space that smokers can go”.

But he has lamented the government’s new proposals to ban smoking in pub gardens and outside areas.

“From a hospitality point of view it’s another kick in the teeth,” Mr Brabant said.

With hospitality facing a torrid few years following the Covid pandemic and the cost of living crisis, Mr Brabant said “businesses are closing in hospitality” and it is “hard to get people to come through the doors, especially with the increase in utility costs”.

The ban on smoking will only be “one more issue to deal with”, even affecting the employability, Mr Brabant added.

He also expressed concerns about the direction of the new government: “The previous government clearly don’t give a toss, and we’re just hoping that there will be some support for hospitality [from the new government], but if this is an indication then we are concerned,” Mr Brabant said.

Keir Starmer publicly supported the leaked government proposals this morning, saying the government was “going to take decisions in this space” because the NHS is “on its knees”.

“More details will be revealed, but this is a preventable series of deaths and we’ve got to take action to reduce the burden on the NHS and the taxpayer,” he told a pool of reporters.

Adam Curtis, landlord of The Cock Inn in Bishop’s Stortford, said this would be the “final nail in the coffin”, describing the potential move as a “logistical, horrible nightmare”.

Hospitality has been resilient in battling through the Covid years, which forced pubs to shut their doors, but this would be one step too far, he said.

The Cock Inn spent money during Covid on refurbishing the garden, but Mr Curtis says they “would probably not have spent as much” if they knew about the proposals to come.

He said there would “absolutely” be an impact on the pub’s business. “People enjoy a cigarette and a pint, there’s a social aspect,” Mr Curtis said.

“There’s enough rules without introducing any more, and we need to be able to earn a living.”

Mr Curtis questioned why different measures could not have been put in place first, such as trialling a “top-end smoking, bottom-end no smoking” policy for pub gardens.

He said it would be bad for the local area, saying it is better to confine smoking into pub gardens - where staff can clean up afterwards - while the streets will now be “littered with cigarettes”.

Tobacco use is the UK’s single biggest preventable cause of death, causing 80,000 deaths every year and killing two-thirds of long-term users.

It is believed that a ban introduced by the government would only apply to England, although devolved governments may choose to enforce similar rules.

Michael Kill, CEO of trade collective Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), said pubs and venues will “without a doubt” be forced to close if these new measures are put in place.

“Millions were spent on outdoor spaces to accommodate for the pandemic and to expand business propositions, with heated all-weather outdoor spaces. There is a reliance on the revenue with these outdoor spaces.”

“We are gonna start to see people come away from going to the pub and going to nightclubs because they can’t smoke and can’t vape,” he said.

He said the hospitality industry has been “left guessing” about the restrictions and the impact they may have, calling for “stronger communication with the government on this issue”.

No hospitality trade associations were consulted on the matter before the proposals were leaked, as far as Mr Kill is aware.

“While the premise is positive, we aren’t thinking about the impact on wider society. There needs to be a much stronger conversation with people that are impacted so we can make sure we are accommodating them,” he said.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Smoking claims 80,000 lives a year, puts huge pressure on our NHS, and costs taxpayers billions.

“We are determined to protect children and non-smokers from the harms of second-hand smoking. We’re considering a range of measures to finally make Britain smoke-free.”