Chapter Arts Centre Canton, Cardiff

Chapter and verse...
...first-class art trumps second-hand smoke

35 years young and now healthier than ever, Chapter Arts Centre, one of Europe’s largest and most dynamic arts centre in Cardiff’s Canton, took centre stage itself by becoming a totally smoke-free zone on New Year’s Day 2006.

Not the easiest decision to make as a management team, especially when confronted by research findings showing the vast majority of your loyal customers are locals who like a smoke! Nevertheless, the Centre in true artistic style gritted its teeth, budgeted for a drop in takings and stood back to await the views of its critics...

Cue rapturous applause and bouquets... six months on and takings have rocketed, customers stay longer and more families choose to eat and drink at the venue than ever before. Can it get more win-win?

Carol Jones, Head of Marketing, Chapter Arts Centre, said, “We see ourselves as the ‘listening’ art centre with an international reputation for excellence, innovation and collaboration. Not only did we listen to users but also our staff who were finding it increasingly uncomfortable to work in a smoky environment.

"Since the voluntary smoking ban, the Centre’s atmosphere has changed completely for the better and our award-winning bar is still the place to be seen."

"We’ve also taken the initiative to support our staff to give up smoking by making a substantial contribution towards the fees for individual members of staff to attend Alan Carr's Stop Smoking workshops."