The huge change in every UK Wetherspoons pub that's been a complete waste of money
EXCLUSIVE: The boss of the beloved pub chain, Tim Martin, has revealed he made a big change at Wetherspoon's that was quickly rendered useless.
Atmosphere, according to the boss of Wetherspoon Tim Martin, is the most important ingredient for any pub. “If you do a survey and ask people why they go to pubs, the number one issue is atmosphere,” he told the Express during a visit to one of his many establishments.
“People will say it's a wooly concept, but we all know what it is when we see it. [Pubs] have got to have a good atmosphere, more than price, more than variety of beers. It's an elusive thing to try and improve.” Martin takes the issue so seriously that he dedicates several days each week to secret visits to Wetherspoon pubs around the country to sample the atmosphere covertly.
Parking half a mile away from the venue, the Wetherspoon founder tries to slip inside unnoticed in order to get an authentic taste of the venue.
Martin has occasionally come across dirty tables piled high with uncollected glasses, but says he only ever makes quiet notes for improvement.
“I never give anyone a b*****king on pub calls when I go around - because what good does it do?” he said.
“But I'm constantly trying to monitor things that I think could be improved.”
One of Martin’s bugbears is lighting. Perhaps unsurprisingly for a man whose pubs are known for having no music, televisions or background ambience, getting a boozer lit at just the right level is one of his non-negotiables.
And as a self-professed “caveman” when it comes to pub atmosphere, he can’t stand it when pubs are too bright.
However, this poses a problem for a chain with a huge menu sometimes printed in a small font.
Martin's solution was simple: he introduced huge numbers of spotlights, which provided areas of the pub where menus could be easily read without compromising on a more atmospheric ambience.
“I myself engineered a massive increase in the number of spotlights in our pubs over 25 years [because] customers were complaining they couldn't read the menu because the [lighting was] too dim,” he explained.
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However, Martin revealed this solution hasn’t really gone to plan.
“I think it's been a false move [because] people now normally look at the menu on their phone, [which] is backlit.
“So one of the biggest problems we've had is trying to control the spotlights, which I myself put in at massive expense.”
It might sound absurd that the influential chairman of one of Britain’s most well-known brands is worrying about lighting.
But Martin is enthusiastic in his belief that his close attention to the smallest details is one of the reasons his chain has been so successful over the years.
At Wetherspoon headquarters, no area is too insignificant for improvement, whether it is the temperature of baked beans or which line of beer is not selling enough to warrant being sold in draft form.
