Wetherspoon's plans to reopen its pubs 'in or around June' a

Wetherspoon's plans to reopen its pubs 'in or around June' after being closed in coronavirus lockdown



Pub chain forced to shut all 900 pubs and furlough 40,000 workers in March

Outspoken chairman Tim Martin claimed closing pubs was 'over the top'

One Wetherspoon in south London was spray painted with 'pay your staff'



By LARA KEAY FOR MAILONLINE



WEDNESDAY 29 April 2020



Wetherspoon's plans to start re-opening its pubs and hotels 'in or around June', it was revealed today.

Chairman Tim Martin was forced to close all 900 pubs and furlough 40,000 workers before Britain went on lockdown.

He was among the last on the High Street to shut up shop, with drinkers downing their final pints on March 20 - just three days before a shutdown was imposed by law.

There were threats to stage a nationwide boycott of the chain when Mr Martin claimed closing pubs was 'over the top' and that supermarkets posed a bigger risk of spreading coronavirus than bars.


He later refused to pay workers until he received the appropriate government bailout and sparked further fury and accusations of hypocrisy when he told workers to get jobs at Tesco instead.

Wetherspoons is planning to re-open its pubs and hotel nationwide 'in or around June'

Chairman Tim Martin (pictured with Prime Minister Boris Johnson in July last year) was forced to close all 900 pubs and furlough 40,000 workers when Britain went on lockdown on March 23 +4
Chairman Tim Martin (pictured with Prime Minister Boris Johnson in July last year) was forced to close all 900 pubs and furlough 40,000 workers when Britain went on lockdown on March 23


His pub in Crystal Palace, south London, was daubed with the words 'pay your staff' after the Brexit-backing boss refused to pay staff until his government money came through.

Today JD Wetherspoon said it aims to raise £141million as part of a share placement scheme so it can re-open as the summer begins.

The company said it would raise the amount through the issue of up to 15.7 million shares at 900 pence per share.

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Won’t be up to them when they re-open

Won’t be up to them when they re-open

Exactly what I thought

They will reopen with massive social distancing and table service only probably .

Nobody allowed at the bar, order using the wetherspoon app only and all tables more than 2 meters apart.
No more than three pints allowed per day per app to stop binge drinking and no smoking inside or outside the pub.

Wouldn't surprise me if they opened before other pubs and restaurants as a test. They have the ability because of the app and size of the premises to be different to other pubs

Won’t be up to them when they re-open

Exactly what I thought

Terrible idea, his clients are generally not the youngest fittest bunch I've ever seen, it would be a disaster if those pubs were to open before a vaccine !!!

Won’t be up to them when they re-open

Exactly what I thought

Terrible idea, his clients are generally not the youngest fittest bunch I've ever seen, it would be a disaster if those pubs were to open before a vaccine !!!

He is as thick as he looks! Money does not buy you intelligence

Won’t be up to them when they re-open

Exactly what I thought

Terrible idea, his clients are generally not the youngest fittest bunch I've ever seen, it would be a disaster if those pubs were to open before a vaccine !!!

He is as thick as he looks! Money does not buy you intelligence

Any business, whatever they do or sell will be gone if we wait for a vaccine...its 2 years away before all the population is done, no business survives that. Being a Multi millionaire with an incredible business model employing 45,000 people...he's probably a bit more intelligent than the penniless dickheads who criticise him.

Any business, whatever they do or sell will be gone if we wait for a vaccine...its 2 years away before all the population is done, no business survives that. Being a Multi millionaire with an incredible business model employing 45,000 people...he's probably a bit more intelligent than the penniless dickheads who criticise him.

The one being knocked out now by Oxford University will have a million ready by September, they must be pretty confident to produce this many. If you read up on what the various professors are saying, they know exactly what they are talking about. Coronavirus has been around for years, there has never been a deadly one though. The need for it has changed but they know how the virus works and how to stop it allegedly, in its current form. Time will tell

Any business, whatever they do or sell will be gone if we wait for a vaccine...its 2 years away before all the population is done, no business survives that. Being a Multi millionaire with an incredible business model employing 45,000 people...he's probably a bit more intelligent than the penniless dickheads who criticise him.

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As I said do do not have to be intelligent to make money and you really think that his buisiness model is incredible?
I guess you are a person who wants the lockdown to stop so that you can go out and get pissed ( in one of his pubs)
If the pubs were locked down a lot sooner perhaps less people would have died! perhaps I should also have said he is a selfish money grabbing sod that could not give a damn about people lives!

Any business, whatever they do or sell will be gone if we wait for a vaccine...its 2 years away before all the population is done, no business survives that. Being a Multi millionaire with an incredible business model employing 45,000 people...he's probably a bit more intelligent than the penniless dickheads who criticise him.

0

As I said do do not have to be intelligent to make money and you really think that his buisiness model is incredible?
I guess you are a person who wants the lockdown to stop so that you can go out and get pissed ( in one of his pubs)
If the pubs were locked down a lot sooner perhaps less people would have died! perhaps I should also have said he is a selfish money grabbing sod that could not give a damn about people lives!

I forgot to add this, regarding that he only thinks about money and not all the deaths the covid19 has caused
His quote!
Martin criticised the shutdown of businesses during the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic, saying that it was "over the top" and that pubs should continue to operate but with social distancing measures in place. After criticism regarding the shutdown of all pubs due the spread of Covid-19, and pushing sales until the very last minute, Tim Martin addressed his 40,000 employees by video message telling them the company "will be unable to pay the staff as they have no cash through the tills" , despite £1.8 billion turnover, and "to go to work for Tesco" un-quote

Any business, whatever they do or sell will be gone if we wait for a vaccine...its 2 years away before all the population is done, no business survives that. Being a Multi millionaire with an incredible business model employing 45,000 people...he's probably a bit more intelligent than the penniless dickheads who criticise him.

Yes, it's a genius move, let's open the pensioner pisshead pubs, what harm can it do?

Any business, whatever they do or sell will be gone if we wait for a vaccine...its 2 years away before all the population is done, no business survives that. Being a Multi millionaire with an incredible business model employing 45,000 people...he's probably a bit more intelligent than the penniless dickheads who criticise him.

Yes, it's a genius move, let's open the pensioner pisshead pubs, what harm can it do?

Vaccine by the end of the year I reckon, the whole World is working on it!

They will reopen with massive social distancing and table service only probably .

Nobody allowed at the bar, order using the wetherspoon app only and all tables more than 2 meters apart.
No more than three pints allowed per day per app to stop binge drinking and no smoking inside or outside the pub.

Wouldn't surprise me if they opened before other pubs and restaurants as a test. They have the ability because of the app and size of the premises to be different to other pubs

I thought this too. We aren’t talking about a full re-opening here - just a partial re- opening with appropriate social distancing for staff and customers. Similar to what is being done in supermarkets ( I deliver home shopping for Asda).

Surely no one on this board was stupid enough to think that they were re-opening Wetherspoons at full capacity with no restrictions?

They will reopen with massive social distancing and table service only probably .

Nobody allowed at the bar, order using the wetherspoon app only and all tables more than 2 meters apart.
No more than three pints allowed per day per app to stop binge drinking and no smoking inside or outside the pub.

Wouldn't surprise me if they opened before other pubs and restaurants as a test. They have the ability because of the app and size of the premises to be different to other pubs

I thought this too. We aren’t talking about a full re-opening here - just a partial re- opening with appropriate social distancing for staff and customers. Similar to what is being done in supermarkets ( I deliver home shopping for Asda).

Surely no one on this board was stupid enough to think that they were re-opening Wetherspoons at full capacity with no restrictions?

You really think that social distances in a pub would work, people drinking, inhibitions let loose, it will never work. I kept pubs for over 25 years, and there is no way that doing what he said is possible

If you want to go down the SD route well it ain' t happening in supermarkets that is for sure.If our bungling Johnnies had any idea of what they were doing we would not be in this mess but no we had Mr Bungling Libertarian Buffoon at the helm with his aide
Mephistopheles urging down the "Herd" route.Well that was a piece of genius, whilst Cheltenham roared with the crowds Spaniards were dying in hospital corridors...!!!!! Shown by the way by the way on the same news bulletins.What do we have now Hancock, Raab, Patel, Whately third rate bums who I would not entrust with a kiosk on a seafront.What a f*cking mess, they have blood on their hands, simple as.

They will reopen with massive social distancing and table service only probably .

Nobody allowed at the bar, order using the wetherspoon app only and all tables more than 2 meters apart.
No more than three pints allowed per day per app to stop binge drinking and no smoking inside or outside the pub.

Wouldn't surprise me if they opened before other pubs and restaurants as a test. They have the ability because of the app and size of the premises to be different to other pubs

I thought this too. We aren’t talking about a full re-opening here - just a partial re- opening with appropriate social distancing for staff and customers. Similar to what is being done in supermarkets ( I deliver home shopping for Asda).

Surely no one on this board was stupid enough to think that they were re-opening Wetherspoons at full capacity with no restrictions?

You really think that social distances in a pub would work, people drinking, inhibitions let loose, it will never work. I kept pubs for over 25 years, and there is no way that doing what he said is possible

If you have to order through the app they already have in place then it can easily be limited to 2 or 3 drinks per person. They can't just go to another pub as the same app would need to be used.

Putting tables 2 or 3 meters apart would also be easy in most wetherspoon as they are huge.

People have to go back to work at some point otherwise it won't be just the virus causing people to die it will be poverty and starvation when the economy collapses.
We have to try bit by bit to get people safely back to work