SMOKING SOLUTIONS

by Karen Combe

SquareOne Features

Today is the second anniversary of the smoking ban in Scotland and by now, the sight of what could be the cast of Still Game sitting outside even the most dubious of pubs on shiny aluminium chairs shouldn’t throw you out of kilter for the whole day. Temporary outdoor tables and chairs which give Scotland a continental look are a simple smoking solution, but a new market has emerged, offering increasingly sophisticated solutions to the needs of "smoking huddlers".

The smoking ban legislation requires all "enclosed" and "semi-enclosed" public spaces to be smoke free. Premises must avoid "substantially enclosed" smoking shelters and outside areas are only deemed smoke free if they have no roof or there are permanent openings in the walls.

Products are now on sale that address every aspect of the law in detail. "Patiolas" and "Terasols" may sound like the names of prehistoric creatures but are in fact semi-permanent outdoor shelters. Leeds based company Inn-Fresco describes them as wind resistant to class 3-Beaufort 6 (49km/hr) handy for hardier smokers.

Online, the aptly named smokingsolutions.com can supply environmentally friendly gas heaters and "Fast –Bar" parasols. But as the grudgingly accepted (among some in the licensing trade) smoking ban is no longer fledgling legislation, smoking solutions are becoming part of the fabric of buildings and not just an afterthought.

Dunbar based Belhaven Breweries owns over 100 pubs throughout Scotland and smoking solutions are individually tailored to suit each of their establishments. The brewery’s refurbished Twa Tams pub in Perth has a specially designed smoking area called The Outside-Inn where customers can watch live Setanta football, smoke and drink while being kept warm by outdoor heaters.

In Edinburgh, The Montpelier Group’s up-market flagship hotel Tiger Lily in George Street, offers discerning smokers a sumptuous smoking solution. There they don’t have to go outside for a puff; they are provided with a specially designed internal space within the grand Georgian interior which has the same high spec as the rest of the establishment. The room is walled on three sides with one glazed wall looking into the bar area, but look upwards and you can see the sky as the roof has been omitted to comply with planning laws. A second smoking area outside the hotel’s nightclub Lulu is a more conventional outdoor area discreetly tucked away at basement level.

Adam Gray, business consultant for the group, says: “The smoking solutions at Tiger Lily cost a five figure sum, but a lot of thought went in to the planning of the space with close consultation with council planners. The results are certainly well worth the cost involved.”

Independent landlady Betty Grieve owns the Melville Lounge Bar in Edinburgh. She says that any smoking solution she could employ was limited because the bar is part of a listed building. As a result she utilised a raised flat area within the property's boundary for tables and chairs without breaking any laws or causing obstruction. The pub is popular with rugby fans who stop in for a pint or two on their way home from Murrayfield and Betty says: “I have to stop them from taking their drinks past the boundary of the bar premises to stay within the law."

Betty sources products for smoking solutions from trade reps. A new product for smokers inside the bar is snuff and she is interested to see how it sells: “I used to sell cigars but I am not ordering them in anymore, I am down to the last few. I got a few fancy outdoor ashtrays but to be honest they were rubbish so I got rid of them.”

Following the ban, non-smokers may be tempted to join the smoking huddle outside the pub to get some fresh air. Betty says she has become aware of “deadly pongs” on a busy night and admits that she hadn’t realised that cigarette smoke, being a good deodorant, masks flatulence, sweat and beer-breath very well. No doubt a gap in the smoking solutions market now exists for a pub air freshener or maybe the continental aroma of strong coffee would do the trick.

SquareOne wants your nominations for the most novel smoking solution you have encountered. E-mail us at squareonenews@gmail.com.