Pub giant Greene King has announced food sales have been boosted by the smoking ban in Scotland.
The company, which was founded in 1799, has said that during the first winter with the smoking ban in place high street pubs and those with outside areas have continued to perform well with food sales growing strongly. However sales of liquor were reported to be down.
Overall results for the Bury St Edmunds-based pub chain were positive with like-for-like sales up 3.4 per cent over the 36-week period to 7th January.
The chain operates many popular brands such as Abbot Ale and Old Speckled Hen.
Like-for-like turnover in Pub Partners, the division involved with the running of Greene King's tenanted and leased pubs, was also reported to have increased by 1.3 per cent. Greene King's own-brewed volume was seen to be in line with last year and total beer sales growth remained strong, the group reported.
Results for retail sales for Belhaven, the East Lothian-based brewing company acquired by Greene King in 2005, were 2.8 per cent below last year. However, the pub chain said these results were still better than estimates at the time of the acquisition.
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