Samuel Smith boss bans swearing across his 300-bar empire

Samuel Smith boss bans swearing across his 300-bar empire

Secretive pub boss Harvey Smith, pictured, is reported to have sacked managers who have failed to clamp down of swearing in his bars 

Secretive pub boss Harvey Smith, who owns the Samuel Smith chain of bars has banned swearing in his 300 establishments and even sacked staff members for failing to enforce his rules. 

Smith, who is in his 70s, is the joint owner of his Yorkshire-based company along with this brother Oliver, is believed to tour the country visiting his bars completely unannounced in order to see if they are upholding his strict moral rules. 

Customers who swear in the firm's establishments face being barred. 

The Samuel Smith chain has the oldest brewery in Yorkshire, but little is known about the man who has imposed the draconian rules. 

The controversial tycoon hit the headlines in January 2016 when a bridge collapsed in his native Tadcaster. 

The local council wanted to build a temporary bridge crossing the River Warfe to link the east and est sides of the Yorkshire Town. 

However, Smith, who owns much of the land of the proposed town, including the river bank on one side of the proposed bridge, blocked the plan as he judged it a waste of public funds. 

The town and county council and even the then Prime Minister David Cameron tried to urge Smith to reverse his decision .

The firm owns 300 bars including the Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese on London's Fleet Street

The Yorkshire based company has outlawed the use of bad language in its establishments 

Smith claimed the temporary bridge 'won't be a thing of beauty' and feared once built, it might become a permanent feature. He also objected to the planned £300,000 cost of the bridge. 

It is claimed that Smith, who owns a large number of houses in Tadcaster, will not rent to cohabiting couples. 

The bridge reopened after more than a year in February 2017 during which time locals were forced to take a 10-mile detour to get from one side of the town to the other. 

The pub chain views itself as very old fashioned with a complete ban on televisions. The bars close at 11pm on Monday to Saturday and 10.30pm on a Sunday. 

All of the managers in the chain are employed directly by the company and a re not tenants.  

According to the Guardian, one landlord said Smith runs the company with 'an iron fist'. 

One insider said: 'He walked into the pubs unannounced â€" he does this a lot â€" and found some people swearing. The managers were sacked on the spot. It didn’t seem that fair â€" there are places where Smith’s have pubs where the only language people speak is swearing. It is so hard to implement. After the sackings we were told that there would be a nationwide no swearing policy.”

The insider added: 'I can only tell people so many times to stop swearing. They get excited, most of the time it’s harmless, not necessarily directed at anyone, just how people speak. But we’re responsible for stopping it.'  

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