MILLIONS of pounds are to be spent by pub chains and breweries in the north west over the next six months to prepare for the ban on smoking in bars, which comes into force in July.

This festive season is the last for people to have a smoke and a drink in the bar of their local. Next year, the atmosphere will be different - literally.

Some pubs will put extra emphasis on food - many plan open-air drinking on forecourts and in beer gardens, some installing elaborate, heated shelters.

Government guidelines have only just been issued on what can be put up, says William Lees-Jones, managing director of Middleton brewer J W Lees.

His company has visited Ireland and Scotland to look at the impact of smoking bans already in place.

"In Ireland, there was 10 to 15 per cent less alcohol sold in pubs after the ban. There was an effect.

"But you have to remember that more than half of all smokers in the UK say that they're trying to give up at any one time. We will be building smoking shelters outside every one of our pubs."

There are over 130 Lees pubs in Greater Manchester, of which only a dozen are already non-smoking, and Mr Lees-Jones estimates that é10,000 to é20,000 will be spent on each. The shelters won't be heated, though. He says it's not environmentally responsible to put in gas heaters to warm the open air.

Tables

Food is already available in just over half of Lees' pubs, and in 12 months' time there will be more. Tony Callaghan, of Wigan-based The Yesteryear Pub Company, which runs Number Fifteen pubs in the north west, along with Maloney's and Yesteryear, has also visited Ireland and Scotland.

"I'm putting é80,000 to é90,000 aside to build shelters with patio tables and heaters," he says. "We don't want to treat smokers as lepers, and there's a breed of younger people coming up now who still want to smoke when they go out.

"I don't think food's the answer, though. Offering people a plum pie won't make them stop smoking. I think there will be an immediate reduction in drink sales, but then there'll be an upside."

Tom Dempsey, operations director of the Cheetham Hill brewer Joseph Holt, with about 125 pubs within a 25-mile radius of Manchester, estimates they will invest between é1m and é2m to deal with the smoking ban.

"We're a community pub brewery," he says. "We want to put as much effort as we can into making the best possible shelters available for smokers, to continue that community spirit.

"Some will be just an awning, others a proper shelter in a beer garden - it depends on the circumstances.

"I think food will become more important. About 10 per cent of Holt's pubs serve food, and the number is growing."

Punch Taverns, based in Burton-on-Trent, has 144 pubs in the Manchester postcode area, including Mr Thomas's Chop House, O'Shea's and Atlas Bar in the city centre (with Chef & Brewer and John Barras as part of its estate). It says it is spending é5m to gear up for the ban, with outdoor smoking areas and improved food ranges.

Sales

"Since the ban in Scotland was introduced," says chief executive Giles Thorley, "overall sales have been little changed."

The majority of houses owned by Robinsons of Stockport are tenanted, which means licensees will make their own decisions about dealing with the ban, but the brewer is about to begin a series of roadshows for its tenants and will offer to support them in meeting the costs, says director William Robinson.

"Most of our people are taking a softly-softly approach," he says. "There will be some business lost, but food will become more important."

Midlands brewer Wolverhampton & Dudley (which owns Marston's, Banks's, Jennings and Harp lager and acquired Burtonwood in 2005) also has a majority of tenanted pubs and is offering help to licensees to invest in their outdoor areas. "If one thing is clear," it says of the Irish experience, "it's that pubs that were quick off the mark are doing much better than those who waited."

John Hutson, chief executive of J D Wetherspoon, says the chain has been opening new non-smoking pubs and converting others to non-smoking since January, 2005. Experience shows that food sales increase and drink sales go down, he says, but "we think in the end more people will be going to pubs."

The chain is creating outside facilities for people to smoke, with cover and heating where possible. They reckon on spending about é30,000 per pub.

"We've also increased our range of food and drinks, and we're attracting new people and families. I think food is going to be a big thing next year."

Mitchells and Butlers, a national chain with an emphasis on food, expects a temporary effect on sales but aims to develop gardens and sheltered areas and attract new dining customers, and Whitbread's, owners of Brewers' Fayre and Beefeater, has had a tight policy on smoking for some time.

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