2007.
Francis Patton, [Punch Taverns] customer services director said: “Too many people are looking at the smoking ban as a threat, but we know this is a huge opportunity. The smoking ban is a great opportunity to get new customers (who want to eat) into pubs and also keep people there who go regularly.”And now (click to enlarge for full schadenfreude joy).
Punch Taverns grabbed that 'opportunity' of a 99% collapse in their share price with both hands, so they did. Well done, you sage Captains of industry, you.
After supping with the Devil, what else did they really expect?
And in case that didn't make you laugh enough, here's the comedian who tops the bill in these parts of late (you may want to hum the Benny Hill theme tune as you read this utter crud from Linda Bauld).
Impact on the Hospitality IndustrySee, that chart from above is just an illusion. It didn't happen. Professional anti-smoker Linda Bauld says so, so it must be true.
Annual Business Inquiry data were only available to 2008 at the time the scoping study was conducted. These data showed that turnover fell in 2007 for bars but not for restaurants or hotels.
Data on consumer spending showed some signs of a small decline in the third quarter of 2007 in the period following the introduction of smokefree legislation, but the size of this fall did not reach statistical significance
Because when Labour were looking to ascertain the effect of the Health Act 2006 (smoking ban, to you and me) and paying nearly £50,000 for the 'expert' opinion, who do you think they hired to do so?
Was it ...
A) An eminent accountant
B) An accomplished economist, or
C) A dedicated anti-smoking health professional with no grounding whatsoever in business or financial affairs, and with a track record of producing bullshit?
Hmmm, that's not as funny, is it? The joke's on all of us instead for having to put up with such blatant manipulation and mendacity.
