First it was music, and now it will be smoking. The pub giant JD Wetherspoon, which popularised the concept of music-free drinking, today said it would impose a complete ban on smoking by May 2006.
The company already includes non-smoking areas in its 650 pubs, but intends to make them all no-go zones for smokers two years before government legislation on smoking in public places comes into effect.
"An increasing percentage of the population are giving up smoking, and a significant number of people are staying away from pubs and restaurants because they are too smoky," Tim Martin, the Wetherspoon chairman, said.
Mr Martin also criticised the government's approach to a smoking ban, pointing out that pubs could get around it by giving up food sales. "We believe the Wetherspoon approach of a complete ban after a period of notice is the right one," he added.
The company will introduce its new policy in May, when 60 of its pubs will be made completely smoke-free.
Industry experts said Wetherspoon faced a drop in sales if experience of non-smoking pubs was any indicator.
"It is a myth that non-smoking bars have increased their sales. We wish Wetherspoon luck, but pubs that go non-smoking see no increase in trade - in fact, they see a loss," Mark Hastings, a spokesman for the British Beer and Pub Association, said. "The evidence comes from the bars themselves. And some of them go back to smoking."
The British Institute of Innkeepers described Wetherspoon's proposals as "a brave move", but cited the case of Ireland, where business has been hit by a smoking ban. "It is a brave decision and hopefully, in the long run, it could be the right decision," the BII chief executive, John McNamara, said. "But if you look at Ireland, we are told that their pubs are down 15 to 20% since the ban came into force."
However, the TUC, Britain's umbrella trade union organisation, saw the move as a big plus for Wetherspoon employees.
"One of Britain's biggest pub chains is acting to save its staff from the dangers of lethal second-hand smoke," the TUC general secretary, Brendan Barber, said in a statement. "The bogus argument that banning smoking is a threat to the pub, club and restaurant business must now fall flat on its face."
Renowned for converting banks into boozers throughout the 90s, JD Wetherspoon began as a single pub operation in 1979. The company, which floated on the London Stock Exchange 12 years ago, now operates in city centres throughout the UK, offering all-day food and cheap beer.
At the height of its expansion programme, Wetherspoon was opening 100 pubs a year. Last year, it opened only 28 in the year to June 25, and suffered its first profit decline since flotation. In a statement, the group warned that 2005 would be another "difficult year".
Wetherspoon last week reported an improvement in trading, but said high overheads and strong price competition were continuing to cause it problems.
The company said like-for-like sales for the past 12 weeks showed an increase of 0.9% on a year earlier, compared with a decline of 0.3% in the previous quarter. However, progress was offset by costs such as utility bills, wages and repairs, remaining higher than in previous years.
Wetherspoon has found itself under intense competition from supermarkets. It used to promote its low-price drinks by suggesting that they matched supermarket prices, but has now conceded it can no longer compete with 80p for a pint of Stella.
The company has also been hit by sticking to measures against binge drinking introduced in April last year. It stopped promoting spirit "doubles" at discount prices, and reduced the strength of some cocktails.
Wetherspoon shares were down 2.6% at 253.25p in afternoon trading, valuing the low-company at about £487m.