Yet more evidence, if it were needed, of the catastrophic decline in the pub trade following the smoking ban, with on-trade beer volumes having fallen by 8% in the nine months post-ban. And apparently we are likely to see a further 6,000 pubs closing over the next five years. As famously stated in Spinal Tap, it’s not that pubs are becoming less popular, it’s just that their appeal is becoming more selective by the day.