UK: Belhaven plans to assess the impact of the smoking ban on trade electronically

Belhaven Brewery Company Ltd., a Scottish pub company plans to assess the impact of the smoking ban on trade by electronically monitoring beer sales, Morning Advertiser informed on April 20. Bellhaven said it has responded to the ban by installing more Brulines equipment in its pubs.

The new deal to install the edisBOX volume monitoring units in 50 additional premises takes the number of the company’s pubs using the equipment to over 150, 79% of its tenanted estate. Bellhaven says the edisBOX system will allow it to assess trading volumes following the ban – which it will compare to pre-ban data.

Alan Keir, director of leased pubs at Belhaven, said: “Although we’ve been using Brulines’ technology on a gradually increasing scale, this latest order is the first time we have installed edisBOX for the purpose of tracking a significant cultural change.
“The recently-introduced ban on smoking on 26 March, could lead to significant changes in drinking habits and, unless properly monitored and managed, these could adversely affect business revenue for licensees and operators alike.”