Tim Martin - Selfish Bastard Take 3

Demanding that his pubs be kept open as the Coronavirus crisis took hold was bad enough - and shameless with it, putting the enrichment of Himself Personally Now above the welfare of his staff. Then, not paying his staff and suggesting they go and apply to Tesco made him look worse. At that point, it might have been thought that Tim Martin, main man of the Wetherspoon pub chain, could not make matters worse.

But that thought would have been misplaced, as Martin made one moderately creditable decision yesterday, only to wipe out his credit in one act of inexcusable selfishness. As a result, an increasing number of CAMRA members are urging the organisation to reconsider its relationship with the Spoons pubs, the largest in a number of pub chains to participate in their discount voucher scheme. So what happened?

Well, the good news is that Spoons is now going to pay its staff, as the SpoonStrike Twitter feed told yesterday “VICTORY FOR WETHERSPOON WORKERS … See our statement following the news that Wetherspoon has U-TURNED following pressure from workers … WE ARE STRONGER TOGETHER!” They will be paid for March.

There was no word on those bonuses, but at least the hermetically tight Martin had been caused to open his wallet a millimetre or two. But then the mood darkened, and the likelihood of CAMRA taking a dim view increased, given the news came from beer writer and long-time Good Beer Guide editor Roger Protz.

And Protz was not happy. “Just in case any of you were thinking the #TimMartin #Wetherspoons fiasco couldn't get any worse (keep my businesses open, no [alleged] risk in pubs, laying off staff without pay, ‘go & get a job in Tesco’) he's now written to out of pocket suppliers they must wait at his pleasure to be paid”. Which means what?

Footprint Media has spelt it out. "JD Wetherspoon has said it does not intend to pay money owed to its suppliers until after its pubs reopen following the coronavirus crisis. In an email sent to suppliers and seen by Footprint, the pub chain said: ‘We are asking for a moratorium on payments, until the pubs reopen, at which point we intend to clear outstanding payments, within a short timeframe.’” They’re stiffing their suppliers.

There is more. “The email, which is signed by Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin, continued: ‘We understand that this puts significant pressure on our suppliers, but we are kindly asking for your assistance during this very difficult period. A number of our suppliers have already offered assistance and we would be most grateful for your cooperation as well.’” That could put some Spoons suppliers out of business.

Spoons pubs source many of their guest real ales from local microbreweries, who are, it is believed, already being hammered down on price by the pub chain. With their revenues already in freefall, being stiffed by Spoons may be the last straw that breaks this particular camel’s back. As Footprint points out, “In its latest financial year Wetherspoon reported revenues of £1.8bn on pre-tax profit of £102.5m”. Martin is just being tight.

Not only has the Spoons chairman behaved appallingly, he may have ensured that, after the Covid-19 crisis is over, CAMRA decide they can get along without him. You want to sell beer, so alienate people, er, who promote drinking it. What a complete dummy.

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