Statement re Press Comment

15th July 2024

J D WETHERSPOON PLC

NEWS RELEASE - CORRECTION

"The Telegraph newspaper published an interview with the head of the Trades Union Congress(TUC), Paul Nowak, yesterday ("Labour is coming for 'c----- employers' like Wetherspoons, says union chief -14th July 2024).

A copy of the article can be found here -

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/07/14/employers-pay-labour-shake-up-workers-union-chief/

In the interview, Mr Nowak said that Labour will make "c---- employers" such as Amazon and Wetherspoon pay the price for bad behaviour and that Wetherspoon along with "the likes of Amazon, Sports Direct, P&O Ferries" were "all anti-union employers who have built their business models on low-paid insecure, employment".

The statements that Wetherspoon is "a c---- employer" and has built its "business model" on "low-paid insecure employment" are completely inaccurate and unjustified. 

Wetherspoon has been recognised as a Top Employer for 19 years, certified by the Top Employers  Institute. 

Staff retention is at its highest ever level. 11,066 of the company's 42,854 staff have worked for the company for 5 years or more which is 14 per pub. Of those, 3,895 have worked for 10 years and 632 for 20 years. 

15,778 employees are shareholders of the company. For the first 6 months of this year, £21.2 million was paid to employees in bonus and shares, of which 99% was paid to staff below board level and 89.6% to staff working in pubs. 

Since 2007, £504 million has been paid to employees in free shares and bonus (approximately 55% of company profits).

Since the share scheme was introduced, Wetherspoon has awarded 27.5 million shares to employees - approximately 22 per cent of all company shares in existence today.

In addition, all staff are offered guaranteed minimum hours contracts, 96.9% of which have accepted those contracts with the company.

Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin said:

"If people in powerful positions, such as Paul Nowak, make serious allegations, which have absolutely no basis in fact, it will deter business investment in the UK. Investment is a primary generator of growth which, as the Chancellor of the Exchequer has recently said, is the number one objective of the government."

 ENDS

Enquiries:

Nigel Connor                 Legal Director                           07876 232529

Eddie Gershon              Company Spokesman               07956 392234

Please send any questions by email to investorqueries@jdwetherspoon.co.uk  

Notes to editors 

1.     J D Wetherspoon owns and operates pubs throughout the UK. The Company aims to provide customers with good-quality food and drink, served by well-trained and friendly staff, at reasonable prices. The pubs are individually designed, and the Company aims to maintain them in excellent condition. 

2. Visit our website: www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk