British smokers find ways to beat the ban

One year on since British public places went smoke free, MINTEL finds most British smokers defiant in their commitment to the habit. Although 32% smoke fewer cigarettes as a result of the ban, just 9% have given up altogether. Predictions of the apocalyptic meltdown of the smoking community have simply not materialised. In Britain today, cigarettes are still big business, estimated to be worth £12.7 billion – that’s around £25,000-a-minute spent on cigarettes. And while the industry did see a fall in volume sales last year this cannot be attributed to the ban alone as cigarette sales have been in long term decline. Indeed, since 2003 the number of cigarettes bought has been falling at around 3% a year (the equivalent of 1.5 billion fewer cigarettes annually) and the same was true between 2007 and 2008.