JDW boss named pub personality with most impact

Tim Martin has been voted as the individual from the pub trade who has made the biggest impact on the industry in the past 30 years.

In a poll of senior industry figures and licensees, in celebration of The Publican Newspaper's 30th birthday, the founder of the JD Wetherspoon pub chain and former trade secretary Lord Young were named as the industry's most influential personalities to emerge since The Publican first came off the presses in 1975.

Lord Young was the cabinet minister who implemented the Beer Orders in 1990 following the Monopolies & Mergers Commission report in 1989 - thus forcing the brewers to sell off much of their pub estates and shaping the pub industry as it is today.

Other personalities picked out for recognition included financier and pub guru Guy Hands, who headed the pubs division for Japanese investment bank Nomura, and Chris Hutt, currently chairman of Laurel and formerly managing director of Wizard Inns.

Speaking to The Publican, Mr Martin thanked the industry figures for choosing him and reflected that Wetherspoon, founded in 1979, had shown that smaller companies really could break down the "shared monopoly" of brewers.

"We showed that it was possible to get plans and licences for something different accepted in areas such as Wood Green and Muswell Hill in North London," said Mr Martin, currently Wetherspoon's non-executive chairman.

"That sparked off a lot of competition and upgrading of pubs, as it forced people to raise their standards. Ultimately the brewers struggled to cope with the competition. Other people saw it was possible to create new national chains."

Mr Martin joked that he also deserved some recognition "for peeving so many individual publicans by opening up near them".

"It was nothing personal guys, it was just business," he added.

Looking forward to the next 30 years, he said pubs would have to continue to upgrade and adapt to meet the challenges of the future.

Regent Inns chairman Bob Ivell - one of the 10 respondents who chose Tim Martin as the individual with the biggest impact on the pub trade - described him as "a big catalyst for the industry to deliver consumer choice and meet customer expectations".

John McNamara, chief executive of the BII, said that Mr Martin had "made a tremendous impact in devising and delivering a very competitive retail-type approach to the management of pubs".

He added: "His company has made a tremendous impression on the public perception of the industry, and many licensees have taken up some of his marketing ideas to good effect."

Looking ahead, many of the personalities questioned said coping with the new licensing regime would be a key challenge for the next 30 years.

Other challenges they cited included raising the standards of pubs to meet increasing demands from customers and the media, and coping with increased legislation.

Thirty-three licensees, trade association executives, brewers and drinks companies were interviewed for the poll.