Wetherspoon boss criticises rival pubcos’ 'financial misjudgement'

In an open letter, Martin said pubco directors who have not joined Jacques Borel’s VAT Club “deserve to be taken to task for their poor commercial judgement and appalling track records”.

He lambasted Enterprise Inns, Marston’s, Greene King and Stonegate, saying: “The multi-billion dollar question is why patently dreadful commercial judgement and non-membership of the VAT Club, along with a failure to campaign effectively for fair taxes, seem to be common characteristics of certain companies. Elitist attitudes and intellectual superiority are undoubtedly part of the answer. There is evidently a feeling among the relevant directors that they know better than the folks on the front line - almost always a precursor to corporate decline. Failure to listen and abhorrence of criticism are closely linked to this elitist trait.”

Martin also condemned the financial management of these businesses. He said of Enterprise: “Many feel that its current business model is doomed. Five years of like-for-like declines testify to the tribulations of its tenants on the front line.”

Poor judgement​

And he added that the commercial judgements in recent years of the senior management teams at Marston’s and Greene King “have also been desperately poor”.

Martin also singled out Stonegate chairman Ian Payne, formerly of Laurel Pub Company, and New Inventive Bar Company chief executive Mark McQuarter, who previously ran Barracuda, for criticism. “The private equity boys, with a small coterie of honourable exceptions, have been especially poor at supporting VAT equality for the pub industry. Their financial records in the pub world have also generally been diabolical.”

He concluded his letter with a question: “Does a refusal to campaign for tax equality with supermarkets when pubs have lost 50% of their beer sales to those businesses make you an idiot? That is the question for shareholders, but also for their companies’ customers, employees and tenants.”