Pub boss drowning his sorrows over £52m loss
THE boss of pub chain JD Wetherspoon has attacked the Government’s Covid restrictions, warning they have left hospitality firms with “colossal debts”.
Tim Martin said: “The future of the industry, and of the UK economy, depends on a consistent set of sensible policies, and the ending of lockdowns and tier systems.”
It came as Wetherspoon swung to a £52.8million loss for the six months to January 24, from a £51.6million profit a year earlier. Revenue dropped by nearly 54 per cent to £431million.
Wetherspoon is set to reopen beer gardens, roof terraces and other outdoor areas at nearly 400 of its 872 pubs on April 12, when Covid curbs are due to be eased.
Mr Martin, a long-time critic of the Government’s lockdown policies, said previous curfews and the need to have a substantial meal to be allowed a drink had “no real basis in common sense or science.”
He said it had created “economic and social mayhem and colossal debts, with no apparent health benefits”.
To help get through the crisis, Wetherspoon has tapped into the Government’s furlough scheme, claiming more than £97million in the half year. It also took a loan from the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme last August.
Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “The pandemic has taken a sledgehammer to Wetherspoon’s
business model, which is focused on pulling in high volumes of punters while keeping prices low.
“The stop-start nature of the business during the crisis has seen a yo-yo effect to some extent, but overall the picture was of a sharp decline.”
Wetherspoon confirmed that it would not be paying an interim dividend.