Smoking ban has not harmed business
Dec 19 2007
The UK-wide smoking ban has proved popular with both businesses and customers, according to a health expert.
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) says that the scepticism anticipated before the ban was introduced on July 1st 2007 has proven to be largely unfounded.
Amanda Sandford, spokesperson for ASH, says: 'There certainly haven't been any reports of industry suffering unduly from it – the hospitality trade seems to have adapted, broadly speaking, to the ban.'
She adds that even if there was some negative impact to the economy, the legislation is still justified 'because of the huge benefits that will come to the population as a whole'.
According to the most recent Department of Health figures, which questioned 41,931 businesses, 98.6 per cent were compliant in terms of no-smoking – with little regional variation.
Almost 90 per cent of businesses were compliant in terms of the signage displayed at the entrance to the premises.
The ban applies to enclosed public places and workplaces.
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