Pub operator J D Wetherspoon has posted its first annual loss since 1984 with its outspoken founder adding his voice to the growing discontent around the latest coronavirus restrictions and their damage to the economy.
The 872-strong pub chain reported a £34m loss in the year to 26 July, down from a profit of £102.5m last year. Like-for-like sales plummeted 29.2% to £1.26bn after closures during lockdown took their toll.
Wetherspoon has since been recovering some trade with like-for-like sales in the first 11 weeks of the new financial year down only 15%.
However, the group now faces further disruption following the introduction of the government’s three-tier system that requires pubs and bars in areas of ‘very high’ alert to close.
Chairman Tim Martin lashed out at the government’s current environment of lockdowns, curfews and constantly changing regulations, saying they threaten not only pub companies, but the entire economy.
Martin said: “For the two months following reopening, it appeared that the hospitality industry, in difficult circumstances, was adapting to the new regime and was getting back on its feet, albeit in survival mode.
“It appears that the government and its advisers were clearly uncomfortable as the country emerged from lockdown. They have introduced, without consultation, under emergency powers, an ever-changing raft of ill-thought-out regulations – these are extraordinarily difficult for the public and publicans to understand and to implement.
“None of the new regulations appears to have any obvious basis in science. For example, a requirement for table service was introduced – which is expensive to implement and undermines the essential nature of pubs for many people – pubs have now become like restaurants. Customers can approach the till in a shop, but not in a pub – which is, in no sense, ‘scientific’.
“In addition, face-coverings, for which the health benefits are debatable, need not be worn while seated, yet must be worn to go to visit the bathroom – another capricious regulation.”
Martin argued that the most damaging regulation was the 10pm curfew. He said: “This has meant that many thousands of hospitality industry employees, striving to maintain hygiene and social-distancing standards, go off duty at 10pm, leaving people to socialise in homes and at private events which are, in reality, impossible to regulate.
“In marked contrast to the consistency of the comparatively successful Swedish approach, which emphasises social distancing, hygiene and trust in the people, the erratic UK government is jumping from pillar to post and is both tightening and tinkering with regulations, so we are now in quasi-lockdown which is producing visibly worse outcomes than those in Sweden, in respect of both health and the economy.
“Risk cannot be eliminated completely in pubs, but sensible social-distancing and hygiene policies, combined with continued assistance and co-operation from the authorities, should minimise it.”
Martin stated that as a result of recent changes in regulations, the outlook for pubs over the remainder of the current financial year is “even more unpredictable than hitherto”.
Profits have steadily grown at Wetherspoon since it reported a £7m loss in its opening year, with its success built around a value offering. However, like many pub and restaurant operators, the group is starting to cut staff including around 130 at its head office and up to 450 at its airport pubs.
Earlier this week, Marston’s announced potential jobs losses of up to 2,150 amid warnings from pub operators across northern England that the latest round of restrictions will wipe out their businesses.
