Awnings sales boom as anxious landlords aim to hang on to customers ahead of tobacco ban

The Observer - Sunday February 18th 2007-02-20

"Pub landlords are becoming increasingly inventive when it comes to ensuring nicotine addicts do not desert them in droves when the latest smoking ban comes into force this year. Thousands of pubs and restaurants are looking to devise outdoor zones - mainly tarpaulin shelters under which smokers can gather in the warm and dry.

The Department of Health has issued strict guidelines defining what can constitute an outdoor smoking area, with at least half of the structure's sides open to the elements.
The quest for legal and comfortable smoking zones has seen a huge increase in orders for awning companies. Tony Reynolds, who runs Shrewsbury-based Shading By Design, said that orders for surveys and quotes were up '1,000 per cent' on last year. 'In 2006 we carried out around 300 surveys,' he added. 'We've done that many in the first six weeks of this year.' "

"Established awning manufacturers warn that 'canvas cowboys' are rushing to offer British pub chains cut-price smoking shelters that are unlikely to last more than one winter. 'There are a lot of structures that are very Heath Robinson,' said Reynolds. 'The market has sucked in a lot of, shall we say, "entrepreneurial" characters who are making a killing.'

Reynolds, whose company has installed outdoor smoking areas for a number of US restaurants in states where a smoking ban has come into force, said many British pub chains were looking for 'bespoke' solutions that would add value to their estate: 'We've just done a job for a pub in Wales where we've created a space between the structure and a wall. In between we've included a bog garden. It's quite a nice place to have a smoke.' "