One year ago, the smoking ban - a law some said would devastate Britain's pubs - came into place. The big landlords have endured a tough 12 months, but critics say they have hardly helped themselves. The industry has been slow to adapt to consumer demands, failed to lure in different customers at different times of the day with a diverse range of offers - decent coffee, free Wi-Fi and complementary copies of the Evening Standard - to go with beer and proper food in the evening.

Steven Moore, analyst at Growth Equities & Company Research, said: "A key differentiator looks to have been the swiftness and ability of companies to respond with the provision of outside spaces with covering, lighting and heaters.

"Although the climate the companies now find themselves in is undeniably challenging, there is some encouragement. The evidence from Scotland, where the smoking ban came in earlier, is that customers are drifting back as they get used to the ban."

Which pub groups are still sparkling and which are suffering from a major hangover?

Mitchells & Butlers
An annus horribilis for the owner of All Bar One and O'Neill's. A disastrous piece of financial engineering intended to bring value out of its properties left it nursing a loss of £274 million. In the six months to April, M&B had sales of £995 million. while profits dipped £5 million to £84 million.
Best London pub: The Flask, Hampstead.

Punch Taverns
Britain's largest landlord has had a rotten year. Its shares have collapsed by 70% as beer sales fell 10% with total like-for-like sales 3% worse and halfyear profits down 20%. Falling volumes and customer numbers have come at a time of rising energy and food costs.
Best London pub: The Three Compasses, Hornsey.

Enterprise Inns
The sprawling tenanted and leased pubs chain includes many thousands of country locals, which have had to work harder to repair the trade of the lost bar-propping smoker. Its shares have fallen 35% in a year - not as much as others because of a likely change in tax status to a real estate investment trust, which will boost to shareholder dividend payments. Latest reports talk of an upturn in trade, though profits have been falling more than 10%.
Best London pub: Portobello Gold, Notting Hill.

Marston's
Best known for its Pedigree bitter, its pubs include some stalwarts of the City as well as the Pitcher & Piano chain. With the shares more than halved in a year and the latest figures showing profits down by almost 20%, "resilient" was the best that chief executive Ralph Findlay could come up with when comparing his bars with the competition. Findlay quipped that he would not bar the Chancellor of the Exchequer like other chains have done over the latest duty hikes; Marston's, said the chief executive, needs all the trade it can get.
Best London pub: Pavilion End, Watling Street in the City.

JD Wetherspoon
The most controversial pub chain among beer drinkers. It goes out of its way to offer a wide range of beers, and at cheaper prices - often a fifth less expensive - than you might find in the next pub up the road. However, its pubs, which are all managed, are often decried as soulless, manufactured places. Its shares have cratered 60% since the fag ban, despite it leading the way by banning smoking in much of its estate even before it had to. Sales are down by 1.5% over the last reported nine months. However, there seems to have been a pick-up in trading during the spring as it turned its pubs into all-day drop-in centres that offer breakfast, tea and coffee from 9am.
Best London pub: Hamilton Hall on Bishopsgate.

Greene King
It's not long since the company behind IPA and Old Speckled Hen was unveiling record profits. The chain of pubs, which includes the Loch Fyne seafood group, made £71 million in the six months to December, but since then things have slowed. Mark Brumby at Blue Oar Securities says: "In a difficult market, Greene King understands the importance of staying very, very close to what's happening on the ground. "The company is an immensely solid operator but times are tough."
Best London pub: The Salt House, St John's Wood

Fuller Smith & Turner
Chairman Michael Turner has boldly gone where few have dared to tread, insisting that "wet" pubs (ones that don't do food) can still thrive if the beer and the surroundings are good. In the 12 months to March, it pushed profits up by 4% to £23 million. While others say pubs that don't do food will die, Turner insists beer is the future.
Best London pub: The Pilot, Greenwich.