Correction Regarding TimeOut Article (31 January
2024)
An article about Wetherspoon, of 31
January 2024, in the online magazine TimeOut, contained a large
number of misleading statements.
In the interests of brevity,
four inaccuracies, among several others, are identified
below:
1) The article said, in
relation to Wetherspoon's financial performance, that:
"…. given the number of people that rely on Spoons for a £4.79
burger meal or a £1.99 pint of Greene King IPA (as well as
somewhere warm to socialise), the company's ongoing decline is no
joke".
The statement that the company is in
"ongoing decline" is demonstrably false.
Like all pub companies, Wetherspoon
was unable to make a profit during the pandemic.
However, in its last financial year,
ended July 2023, Wetherspoon made a pre-tax profit of £42.6
million.
Sales in the current financial year
(2024), as publicly available documents demonstrate, are at record
levels.
To characterise a very large recent
improvement in financial performance as an "ongoing decline" is
absurd.
2) The article said in
relation to the company's acquisition of historic buildings and
refurbishment for use as pubs that:
"It's true that JD Wetherspoon has
form when it comes to taking over large, grand looking premises
such as former cinemas, theatres, banks or bingo halls - and the
chain has faced criticism for turning iconic venues such as
Edinburgh's Caley Picture House or the Opera House in Royal
Tunbridge Wells into identikit pubs".
This statement is
incorrect.
For example, the Royal Opera House
in Tunbridge Wells is clearly not an "identikit pub". It is a
listed building which was refurbished by Wetherspoon, with the
approval of English Heritage, retaining and upgrading historic
features wherever possible.
The Caley Picture house, in
Edinburgh, is also a listed building, which could not possibly be
described as an "identikit pub". It has been restored by
Wetherspoon, wherever possible, to its original
condition.
Wetherspoon has won a significant
number of awards for design, dating back to 1993, perhaps more than
any other company, details of which can be found here
https://www.jdwetherspoon.com/investors-home/bsr/awards.
Both the Royal Opera House and the
Caley Picture House won CAMRA (The Campaign for Real Ale)
"outstanding conversions and restorations" awards in
2020.
The restoration of the Royal Opera
House also won a commendation in the 1997 "Royal Tunbridge Wells
Civic Society Conservation Awards".
3) The article said in
relation to the initial Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020
that:
"During the pandemic, (Mr Martin)
also initially refused to offer staff furlough payments, before
public outrage caused him to backtrack".
This statement is entirely
fictitious.
Mr Martin at no stage said that the
company would not pay its furlough payments.
All staff were paid weekly/monthly
throughout the pandemic - not one payment to employees was missed
or delayed.
When a number of newspapers and
media organisations made similar inaccurate statements, they
published corrections and apologies, following legal action, which
are collated in an edition of the magazine, Wetherspoon News,
called ''Does Truth Matter?'', which can be read online here
https://www.jdwetherspoon.com/~/media/files/pdf-documents/wetherspoon-news/does-truth-matter_.pdf.
4) The article said
that:
"Martin was even forced to sidestep
his anti-immigration views and call for a new visa scheme to allow
hospitality workers to enter the UK".
This statement is completely
incorrect, as numerous media organisations have acknowledged.
Mr Martin has never expressed anti-immigration views, including
during the referendum. His views on the subject are summed up
in evidence given by Mr Martin to the House of Lords' Economic
Affairs Committee in 2017. Please see Appendix 1
below.
A number of publications have issued apologies and corrections for
making inaccurate comments on this subject, including, for example
Yahoo News, in Appendix 2 below.
Immediate corrections are being
sought from TimeOut.
Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin
said:
"Even though Wetherspoon has
received enough corrections and apologies from the media to fill a
magazine (''Does Truth Matter?'') in respect of the sort of
misrepresentations contained in the TimeOut article, they continue
to be repeated- and to be believed, as a result, by a percentage of
the public. By this process "the lie becomes the truth". However,
there is no doubt that articles such as the one in TimeOut
gradually undermine the integrity and reputation of the
press."
APPENDIX 1 - EXTRACT FROM
"DOES TRUTH MATTER?"
Tim Martin's evidence to the House
of Lords' Economic
Affairs Committee (published by
parliament on 21 July 2017):
"Page 21: Members present: Lord
Hollick (The Chairman);
Lord Burns; Lord Darling of
Roulanish; Lord Forsyth of
Drumlean; Lord Kerr of Kinlochard;
Lord Lamont of
Lerwick; Lord Layard; Lord Sharkey;
Lord Tugendhat;
Baroness Wheatcroft.
The Chairman: Given the expected end
of free movement
of people between the UK and EU,
what would you like
to see replacing it that would
control immigration?
Mr Tim Martin: At the risk of
incurring the wrath of Lord
Darling, I think the referendum was
about democracy.
You touched on the issue earlier.
Looking round the
world, New Zealanders can work in
Australia; the Irish
could work here and we could work
there long before
the EU.
There is an argument based on
pragmatism and proximity.
EU workers have been allowed to come
and work here in
the past, and there is a case for
them being able to do so
in the future on some preferential
basis, partly on grounds
of pragmatism.
The reason it would be very
difficult to do the same thing for
India or China is that they have 2.5
billion people between
them and you just cannot open your
borders to them on a
pragmatic basis; but on a
preferential work permit basis, and
with the historical links with
Ireland, which will continue, you
can do something for EU
countries.
The Chairman: Do you see the
Government playing a role in
saying that the hospitality
industry, or even the pub sector of
it, can have so many people, or
would you allow the
market to decide that?
Mr Tim Martin: I do not know the
answer to that, but
for the UK to be a successful
country and economy in
the next 20, 30 or 50 years we need
a gradually rising
population, and that will need some
type of reasonably
controlled immigration.
If we do not get it, the economy
will tend to go backwards.
We need a North American or
Australian-type system."
APPENDIX 2 - EXTRACT FROM
"DOES TRUTH MATTER?" - YAHOO FINANCE 2 JUNE 2021
Following an inaccurate Daily
Telegraph report, for which it apologised, a considerable number of
other publications repeated the same story and agreed to publish
corrections.
The following correction was
published in ''Does Truth Matter?'':
"Correction: In an article dated 2
June 2021 titled, "Brexit-supporting Wetherspoon boss calls for
more immigration to plug staff shortages" it was suggested that
Wetherspoon was having problems recruiting staff. In fact, as it
has been acknowledged by the UK Telegraph newspaper who first
published the incorrect story on 1 June 2021, Wetherspoon has not
experienced any atypical recruitment issues and was in "a
reasonably good position". It is accepted that Wetherspoon is not
facing staff shortages or recruitment issues. We apologise for any
confusion and are happy to correct the record."
Enquiries:
|
|
Nigel Connor
|
Legal Director
|
07876
232529
|
Eddie Gershon
|
Company Spokesman
|
07956
392234
|
Please send any questions by email
to investorqueries@jdwetherspoon.co.uk
Notes to editors
1. J D
Wetherspoon owns and operates pubs throughout the UK. The Company
aims to provide customers with good-quality food and drink, served
by well-trained and friendly staff, at reasonable prices. The pubs
are individually designed, and the Company aims to maintain them in
excellent condition.
2.
Visit our website: www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk