The secretive owner of a 300-strong-chain of British pubs has introduced a controversial no-swearing policy at every one of his establishments.
Seventy two-year-old Humphrey Smith, owner of the Samuel Smith chain, has banned swearing in his joints - and even sacked staff members for failing to enforce his rules.
Mr Smith is the joint owner of the Yorkshire-based company along with his brother Oliver, the Guardian reports. He reportedly tours 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.
One landlord told the Guardian Smith runs the company with "an iron fist".
One insider said that "he walked into the pubs unannounced - he does this a lot - and found some people swearing. The managers were sacked on the spot. It didn't seem that fair - 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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