The owner of more than 100 pubs in Brighton and ove has said it is "well-equipped" to cope with a smoking ban.

Rob Ward, South-East regional operations director of Punch Taverns, said the group had started to prepare for a crackdown on lighting up in public.

He said landlords had received smoking packs outlining their rights and obligations and ways of accommodating smokers and non-smokers.

He said: "We favour a selfregulation approach so we give our landlords the right to ban smoking or permit it as they deem fit. At the moment the law is open-ended but I am confident we will cope, whatever the outcome."

Punch, the UK's second biggest pub owner with 8,277 sites, does not operate "branded" pubs like Harvester, Weatherspoons or Brewer's Fayre.

Instead it gives individual landlords free reign over how they run their establishments, meaning the Punch portfolio varies enormously in style Heist, the cocktail bar in West Street, is owned by the group as is the gastro-pub Chimney House in Exeter Street, formally the Marquis of Exeter.

Mr Ward said more "indoor" gardens with patio heaters and a degree of roof shelter might be one way of getting around the smoking ban.

He spoke to the Argus on the day Punch Taverns posted a 28 per cent hike in profits after trade was boosted by the addition of 500 pubs from the InnSpired estate.

Pre-tax profits were up to £207 million for the year to August 20 compared with £161 million in the previous year as turnover reached £770 million.

Like-for-like sales grew by 2.5 per cent over the year but actual sales were up 21 per cent at £770 million following the addition of almost 1,000 pubs to the business.

Punch took on 471 InnSpired pubs in September last year and 409 Avebury pubs in August. It also bought 106 independent pubs during the year.

The acquisitions followed the purchase of Pubmaster in 2003 for £1.2 billion. Mr Ward said: "Punch remains an acquisitive company and we will be looking to make more purchases in the Brighton area in 2006."

Punch chief executive Giles Thornley said: "Current trading is satisfactory and in line with the board's expectations. We remain well placed to acquire further quality pubs through piecemeal and innovative corporate acquisitions."

Tuesday, November 15, 2005