Smoking ban leads to Weatherspoons sales increase

Pub chain JD Weatherspoons has announced that its current better-than-expected sales figures are due to the smoking ban.

The 650 site-strong group said the UK-wide smoking ban has led to a major increase in food orders.

JD Weatherspoons reported like-for-like sales increased by 4.9 per cent in the eleven weeks to July 15, up on the company's 2-4 per cent forecasts earlier this year.

Finance director Jim Clarke was wary of the results. He said: "Our experience in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales shows that you have to discount the first month because of 'pub tourists', those people who want to try out smoke-free pubs.

"The big issue for us is can we hold on to to those customers?"

Although the smoking ban had an initial impact on the company's profit margins due to the decline in drink sales, the pub chain said the legislation has resulted in pubs becoming more attractive to many.

In spite of the sales increase, the company remains cautious, warning that smoking ban related expenditure would have an impact on results for the financial year.

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