Wetherspoon backs record profits with tax rant

JD Wetherspoon has unveiled record results, with sales of £996.3 million and pre-tax profit of £71m, a 7.3% increase on the previous year.

However, as the company faces a £400m tax bill, Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin remarked: “The biggest danger to the pub and catering industry is a continued increase in taxes and regulations.”

The report took the opportunity to criticise much of the UK government’s legislation to tackle excessive alcohol consumption as being “little more than a public relations stunt”. In particular it described the practice of police recruiting minors to try and order drinks in pubs as “hypocritical in the extreme and counter-productive.” 

The pub group’s positive results can be attributed in part to physical growth, with 47 pubs opened during the year, bringing its total to 775 venues. Other contributing factors were Wetherspoon’s efforts to diversify and improve the service and facilities available to consumers.

Key among these was Wetherspoon’s decision to develop its breakfast offer by opening pub doors for hungry punters at 7am, currently the only major pub to offer this service. The company now serves over 400,000 breakfasts a week across the country and 600,000 coffees – an increase of 40% on last year.

Looking to the future, the report called for a less punitive tax system for the on-trade, suggesting that “the tax paid by pubs and restaurants should be more fairly equated with the tax paid by supermarkets.”

Nevertheless Wetherspoon declared itself “confident of a resilient performance” for the current financial year, promising continued acquisition of new sites, an ongoing refurbishment programme, completed rollout of a new till system and increased investment in its staff.

Marinel FitzSimons, 14.09.2010