Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin reveals regret over opening pubs in France and Las Vegas
EXCLUSIVE: The famous pub chain had identified properties in Lille, Calais and Dunkirk in an effort to bring the British boozer to France.
Wetherspoon’s boss Tim Martin regrets not taking the brand global after shelving plans to open pubs in France. Speaking exclusively to the Express, the pro-Brexit businessman revealed just how close the business came to a European expansion in the 2000s.
“Twenty years ago we found the sites, we didn’t actually finish the deal but found sites in Calais, Lille and Dunkirk,” Martin said. “I spoke to a Guardian journalist whose wife was French, she [had told him] she could understand Lille and Calais, but not Dunkirk. And I said, well, if it goes wrong, we can f**k off quickly, which I didn't think he'd publish, but he did.” Ultimately, however, Martin said Wetherspoon's opted against the plans.
“I think we instinctively felt we were getting a bit carried away and maybe the pub is more of a British institution.
“We didn’t have as many pubs as we have now and the profits were lower. So we thought it was a bridge too far. But maybe we were wrong, I look at Starbucks and other people who’ve gone around the world and think well, maybe we were too conservative and British.”
Asked if he’d ever got the opportunity to take Wetherspoons to the USA or open a branch in Las Vegas he said there had been offers that he’d “more or less ignored”.
“But I do see how some restaurant chains expanded abroad and wonder if we were too conservative,” he added.
After initially claiming he was too old to lead a global push at 69, Martin said: “I'm hoping to work for another 45 years. So maybe there is time. Wetherspoon's can conquer the world.”
Martin’s comments about the abandoned French experiment come just days before the UK pub industry braces itself for the impact of Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s National Insurance hike.
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The Wetherspoon's chief warned the NI increase was going to cost millions and would only increase the advantage supermarkets had over boozers when it came to selling alcohol.
“It will cost the business £60 million per year, which is about £1,500 per pub a week and £75,000 per anum. So it’s a very, very big increase,” he said.
“It [will be] much more per pint than the tax increase for supermarkets. But once again it's going to widen the disparity. So I think it’s a mistake.”
