The decision by Wetherspoons follows a stricter, longstanding policy from rival pub chain Sam Smiths, which has a ban against phone or tech use of any kind, in addition to a ban on swearing.
Mark Evans manages the Black Horse Inn, a Sam Smiths pub in Bradford, and tells the BBC says it offers a “digital detox” because of the ban.
“Even strangers in for the first time, within 10 or 15 minutes, they’re joining in a conversation with other people,” he says.
“You do get occasional negative reaction where they’ll just turn around and walk out, which is fair enough.”
“We do have an element of hypocrisy though, because people are allowed to pay by their phones.”
Like Sam Smiths pubs, Wetherspoons pubs do not play music, with chief executive Sir Tim Martin describing them as “an oasis of tranquillity and contemplation… in a world dominated by other people’s music and amplified sound”.
Wetherspoons does play music in the evening at its 44 Lloyds’ bars. It confirmed the ban on customers playing music and taking calls on speaker would also apply to those venues.
“In order to avoid customers being driven chicken jalfrezi by a cacophony of sound, we are kindly asking phone users to pipe down,” Sir Tim added.
The number of Wetherspoons pubs has steadily fallen over the last decade from a peak of 955 in late 2015.
The firm has faced a financial challenges during those 10 years from the Covid pandemic and inflation.
Last month, it told investors that profit for the year would be lower than expected because of higher costs for food, labour, repairs, energy and business rates.
Additional reporting by Sarah Rogers
