Sir

Tim Martin
Born
Timothy Randall Martin

(1955-04-28) 28 April 1955
Norwich, England
EducationUniversity of Nottingham
OccupationBusinessman
Known forFounder and chairman of Wetherspoons (1979–present)
SpouseFelicity Owen
Children4

Sir Timothy Randall Martin (born 28 April 1955) is an English businessman and the founder and chairman of Wetherspoons, a pub chain in the UK and Ireland. In 2016, Martin actively campaigned for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union and was a strong supporter of Brexit, donating £200,000 to the Vote Leave campaign.[1]

Early life

Timothy Martin was born on 28 April 1955 in Norwich.[2][3] His father served in the Royal Air Force and then worked for brewing multinational Guinness plc, where he became Malaysian marketing director. He has two younger brothers, Trevor and Gerry, and a sister, Louise.

Tim Martin was educated at eleven schools in New Zealand and Northern Ireland, including Campbell College, Belfast, and the Royal Belfast Academical Institution.[4][5]

He earned a bachelor's degree in law from the University of Nottingham,[4] and qualified as a barrister in 1979, but has never practised.[6]

Career

The Six Templars in Hertford, seen in November 2020

His early jobs included working on a building site in Ware,[4] and acting as a sales representative for The Times.[5]

Martin is the founder and chairman of Wetherspoon.[2] He bought his first pub, in Muswell Hill, in 1979 which was originally named Martin’s Free House before renaming to Wetherspoons, named after one of Martin's teachers who stated he would never be a success.[7][2] His brother Gerry also ran a pub chain, Old Monk, which was listed in 1998, but went out of business in 2002.[6]

After the initial opening of Martin's first location, the organisation kept growing and expanding as Wetherspoons started opening more locations throughout the north of London, and eventually across the whole UK. In 1992 Wetherspoons was listed on the Stock Exchange as JD Wetherspoon plc.[7]

In 1998, Martin kept expanding the company's operations and opened 20 locations in one month in July, with seven opening on the same day.[7]

In 2000, under Martin's leadership, Wetherspoons opened its 400th location and by 2008 the number had increased to 800 Wetherspoons locations.[7]

In 2005, Martin was voted the fifth most influential person in the UK pub industry.[8] He is an admirer of Sam Walton's business philosophy.[9] He visits at least 15 Wetherspoons outlets each week.[10]

As of February 2023, Martin owned 30.77m shares (23.90% of shares).[11]

In January 2022, the Wetherspoons pub chain closed 10 pubs across the UK with 35 more up for sale, Martin stated that pubs across the UK are being crippled via unfair taxes in comparison to supermarkets. Martin went on to state that he is pushing for tax parity with supermarkets and unless this is implemented the pub industry would inevitably shrink.[12]

Political views

Brexit

Martin was a staunch supporter of Brexit in 2016, representing these views for journalists and on political TV programmes such as the BBC's Politics Live, and Sky News,[13] and BBC Radio 4 programmes including Today, Question Time and Farming Today.[14][15][16] In 2016, Martin donated £200,000 to the Vote Leave campaign.[1] Throughout the campaign, he gave his reasons for the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union.

In January 2017, Wetherspoons published figures showing an increase in sales of more than 3%. Martin used this as evidence that there was no post-Brexit referendum slowdown as predicted by economists.[17]

In June 2018, Martin announced that Wetherspoons would be ceasing the sale of products from other European Union countries in a 24-month plan, with the immediate example of Prosecco and Champagne being replaced by Australian wines. He believes the prediction of food prices rising and food shortages leading to stockpiling of supplies in the UK post-Brexit is merely scaremongering tactics deployed by pro-EU journalists, and mentioned the fact there were no increased queues in his restaurants as a result; after he removed French brandy from sale in his restaurants as an example.[18][19][20]

Wetherspoons mass posted a pro-Brexit magazine to an unknown number of households in January 2019. The magazine claims to have a readership of two million.[21] The employee campaign group, Spoons Workers Against Brexit, described the publication as dangerous propaganda, and said that Martin was exploiting his position as CEO.[22] Wetherspoon responded by defending the mass mailing, stating it contained "... pro and anti Brexit articles to stimulate debate"; the proportionately minor mentions of views critical to a no deal Brexit were preceded by statements by Tim Martin, deriding expert opinions and "the elite".[23][24]

In June 2021, Martin called on the UK government to introduce a "reasonably liberal immigration system" controlled by Britain rather than the European Union. He suggested the government should adopt a visa scheme for workers from the EU to help the UK's pubs and restaurants hire more staff.[25]

COVID-19 pandemic

Martin criticised the shutdown of businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that it was "over the top" and that pubs should continue to operate but with social distancing measures in place.[26][27] After criticism regarding the shutdown of all pubs due to the spread of COVID-19, Martin addressed his 40,000 employees by video message. He acknowledged the government would pay 80 per cent of the wages of staff at companies who have lost work during the crisis, but he said the money could take weeks to come through. Martin suggested that if some staff were offered jobs in supermarkets they should consider taking them and promised that he would give first preference to those who wanted to come back to Wetherspoons.[28]

On 19 January 2022, in a statement to the London Stock Exchange, Martin accused the Prime Minister Boris Johnson of "hypocrisy" over the "Partygate" scandal, arguing that much of the controversy would have been avoided if Downing Street staff had been able to visit pubs which, at the time of the alleged lockdown parties, were closed due to coronavirus restrictions.[29]

Cost of living crisis

Commenting in June 2023 on the effects of the cost-of-living crisis in the UK, Martin remarked that increasing costs in the British brewing industry may result in raised prices to consumers, and suggested that the price of a pint of beer could reach £8 or more. He also expressed concerns that breweries may consider watering down beer to gain tax breaks.[30][31]

Personal life

Tim Martin is married to Felicity (née Owen), whom he met while at university; they have four children and live in Exeter, Devon.[4][32][6]

In the 2024 New Year Honours Martin was appointed Knight Bachelor for services to Hospitality and to Culture.[33]

References

  1. 1 2 "JDW boss Tim Martin gives £200,000 to Brexit campaign". morningadvertiser.co.uk. 10 May 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Andrew Clark. "Interview: Tim Martin, chairman, JD Wetherspoon". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  3. ↑ "Births, Marriages, Deaths records online". Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "The Real Pub Landlord". The Observer. 3 March 2002.
  5. 1 2 "The giant of the pub world". The Times. 8 February 2009.
  6. 1 2 3 Chris Blackhurst (30 January 2005). "Meet Britain's unlikeliest tycoon". Evening Standard. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Behind Tim Martin's £448million fortune as Wetherspoons' boss named among UK's biggest taxpayers". mirror.co.uk. 27 January 2023.
  8. ↑ "Catering & Hospitality News". Caterer Search. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  9. ↑ "UK: BOOKS – The book that shook TIM MARTIN". managementtoday.co.uk.
  10. ↑ "JDW's Tim Martin: Only here for the beer". morningadvertiser.co.uk. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  11. ↑ "Director dealings: JD Wetherspoon chairman ups stake". sharecast.com. 2 January 2023.
  12. ↑ "Tim Martin claims 'unfair' tax killing pubs as 10 Wetherspoons closed and 35 up for sale". express.co.uk. 24 January 2023.
  13. ↑ Porritt, Richard. "Wetherspoons boss makes bonkers '£600 hard Brexit windfall' claim". The New European.
  14. ↑ Campbell, Chris (7 July 2017). "They're trying to take over!' Wetherspoon's boss blasts 'unelected' EU Brexit negotiators". Daily Express.
  15. ↑ Preston-Ellis, Rom (27 June 2018). "Question Time in Exeter: Who is on the panel?". Devon Live.
  16. ↑ Tim Martin on UK food production post-Brexit, Farming Today, BBC Radio 4, 22 March 2017
  17. ↑ Ambrose, Jillian (4 October 2018). "Wetherspoons boss slams economists' post-Brexit gloom as pub sales climb". The Daily Telegraph.
  18. ↑ "Wetherspoon to stop selling champagne and prosecco". BBC News. 13 June 2018.
  19. ↑ Bernhardt, Jack (14 June 2018). "No more Wetherspoons champagne after Brexit. It doesn't go with gammon anyway". The Guardian.
  20. ↑ Rabbett, Abigail; Pengelly, Ella (9 January 2019). "What happened when Brexit loving Wetherspoons owner held a Q&A in The Regal". cambridgenews.
  21. ↑ "Pub propaganda is leaving a bitter taste". New European. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  22. ↑ Grant, Katie (29 January 2019). "Wetherspoon's staff urge Tim Martin: Remove your pro-Brexit 'propaganda' from our pubs". inews.co.uk.
  23. ↑ "Tim's Viewpoint - J D Wetherspoon". www.jdwetherspoon.com.
  24. ↑ "Wetherspoons Faces Backlash After Posting 'Pro-Brexit' Magazine To Households". HuffPost UK. 1 February 2019.
  25. ↑ "Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin calls for more EU migration to help staff bars". www.lbc.co.uk. 1 June 2021.
  26. ↑ "Coronavirus: M&S invokes wartime spirit as virus impact hits". BBC News. 20 March 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  27. ↑ Davies, Rob (20 March 2020). "JD Wetherspoon boss says closing UK pubs will not stop coronavirus". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  28. ↑ "Coronavirus: Millionaire Wetherspoon's boss tells staff to consider working for Tesco". The Independent. 24 March 2020. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  29. ↑ Boland, Hannah (19 January 2022). "No 10 staff should have been able to party in a pub, says Wetherspoons boss". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  30. ↑ "Price of a pint could hit £10, warns Wetherspoon boss". The Independent. 20 June 2023. Archived from the original on 20 June 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  31. ↑ "Wetherspoon boss: Brits will have to get used to an £8 pint". CityAM. 19 June 2023. Archived from the original on 21 June 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  32. ↑ Hilary Clarke (10 January 1999). "Interview: Barrister who was called to the bar". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  33. ↑ "No. 64269". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 2023. p. N2.
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