Since the ban on Smoking in public places was introduced in England a year ago, cigarettes sales have dropped 6% according to new figures released today by market company Nielsen.

In total, smokers bought 2.1 billion less cigarettes in Britain in the 10 months from July last year to April 2008. 92% (1.93 billion cigarettes) of this decline was driven by sales in England and Wales with a further 220 million less sticks smoked in Scotland, where the ban was introduced a year earlier.

Jake Shepherd, Marketing Director at Nielsen commented, “In addition to the smoking ban, cigarette sales have been hit by new legislation which outlaws the sale of tobacco to under-18’s which came into effect in October 2007 and increasing duty on tobacco which is pricing cash strapped smokers out of the market. Nielsen expects that the full year sales decline will amount to some 2.6 billion cigarettes less than was sold in the year before the smoking ban was introduced.”

Beer and spirits sales have also suffered. In the 9 months from July to March volume sales of alcohol fell 8% in the On-trade in England & Wales. Before the ban sales were falling at a steady 3%. The wet summer of 2007 has added to the downturn but Nielsen analysts estimate that just under half of the 8% decline can be attributed to the smoking ban. Data from a Nielsen survey polled before the ban came into effect showed that 60% of people thought they would be more likely to visit a pub once it was non-smoking, but when this survey was re-polled several months after the ban had been in place, only 45% said they would be more likely to visit now pubs were non-smoking. In fact, 44% of people said they visit licensed premises less often than they did before the ban was in place.

Shepherd continued, “Nielsen estimates that around 175 million less pints have been drunk in the last year in England and Wales as a direct result of the smoking ban. The winter months were particularly bad – sales fell 9.3% through November to January when smokers would have been reluctant to stand outside in the cold to have a cigarette.”

Sales of wine however, have not been as badly hit. Sales here have gone from -2% before the ban to -4% since the ban. Shepherd added, “Wine has held up somewhat better than other drinks, probably benefiting from the increasing importance of food and women to the On-trade. In Scotland we have seen the sales of both tobacco and alcohol (out of home) stabilise during the second year of the ban being in force so we do not expect these decline rates to continue in the long term. Investment into outdoor smoking areas has been considerable and most consumers have now adapted to the change.”

There was a big push to encourage smokers to quit over 2007. Nielsen Media tracked advertising spend from manufacturers of smoking cessation products such as nicotine patches or gum – £18 million was spent on advertising this type of product in 2007, with £6million of this focused around the time the smoking ban was introduced in England. The government, also, ploughed investment into anti-smoking strategies with over £6million being spent on quitting advice and health service advertising.

A spokeswoman for the Staffordshire-based company said the move was not driven by the forthcoming smoking ban in England – recently introduced in Wales – but was a strategic move as it looked to increase the overall quality of its estate.

Punch disposed of the estate of leased and tenanted pubs, largely in England and Wales, for £326m (€479.89m), which it said it will use to reduce the company’s debt.

Punch, which replaced Gallaher in the FTSE 100 Index this week, said the estate consisted of smaller, less profitable pubs from the lower end of its portfolio and were largely drinks-focused venues.

The spokesperson said that Punch was prepared for the smoking bans following the divestment of more than 520 pubs since December 2005, including 203 sites to Admiral, while it had also worked on a “smoking solution” for all of its 9,300 venues.

A number of major pub companies, including Enterprise Inns and Marston’s, have been working to trim down their pub assets ahead of the nationwide ban, whilst also increasing their food offerings as a way to offset any decline in sales from smokers who choose to drink at home.

The deal represents the largest ever pubs purchase by Admiral, taking its estate to 2,700 pubs in England and Wales, and will see it become the third biggest pubs group. It was reported today that Admiral may look to cash in on the property value of some of the venues.

Since its foundation in March 2004, the company has worked to quickly build up its estate of freehold pubs and invest in improving performance at the businesses.

During the last two and a half years, Admiral has bought 1,205 sites from Punch, whilst it also picked up 769 tenanted and leased pubs from Enterprise Inns in September and 155 from Greene King in November.

Gary Landesberg, chief executive of Admiral, said: “We have acquired freehold pubs which will contribute to building a sustainable business for the long term.”

Admiral is an independent company jointly owned by the Landesberg and Rosenberg families.

Taken from: http://breakingnews.iol.ie

They suggest a slump set in at the pumps last autumn after a honeymoon period when the law came into force.

The results surprised experts, who thought last year’s World Cup would boost sales in pubs.

Market analysts AC Nielsen said beer sales fell by six per cent overall last year. The average UK drop was four per cent.

Now supermarkets have spotted a gap in the market and slashed the price of beer to attract stay-at-home drinkers, pub bosses claim.

Paul Waterston, of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, said: “It is a very, very difficult time.

“Scotland is now a country that drinks at home.”

Taken from: www.dailyrecord.co.uk

Their concerns came to a head after the wrong web address was listed on the political blog site of Tory leader David Cameron.

The problem comes from a now defunct previous campaign with a similar name and aim which still has a website calling for donations.

Freedom to Choose is collecting money to pay for a Judicial Review of the ban.

Spokesman Robert Feal-Martinez said: “We have been aware for some time that a campaign which dates back to 2004 with a similar web address, is still appearing as the top entry when Googling ‘Freedom to Choose’.

“We are also aware that this campaign is no longer active. We have made numerous phone and email attempts to contact the campaign leader with no response.

“The wrong web address has even been used on the David Cameron blog in the last few days.

“What concerns us is that this site has a donation link, and those wishing to donate to our campaign may be mislead into believing they are.

“We wish to make it clear that our web address is www.freedom2choose.co.uk

Taken from: www.morningadvertiser.co.uk