Tim Martin blasts ‘lack of understanding’ by MPs on inflation as Wetherspoon sales hit fresh record

In a warning shot to MPs, boss Tim Martin said: “Inflation, especially in labour, energy and food costs, remains a more intractable issue.

“In order to bear down on inflation, political parties should encourage free enterprise, rather than a reliance on additional regulations.

“A lack of understanding, among some senior politicians, about the need to encourage a successful free market economy, presents a real threat to the future prosperity of the country.”

J D Wetherspoon said it saw its highest ever trading day over the bank holiday weekend as it predicted revenues would surge past pre-pandemic levels.

The pub chain said sales increased 12.2 per cent in the 13 weeks to the end of April, and said it expected its full-year sales to hit a new record, with profits to be towards the top of market expectations.

The firm reduced its debts by £67 million to £738 million, aided by the closure of over 20 pubs from which it pocketed around £5 million. It has put another 30 pubs on the market. It has opened three new pubs since the start of the financial year, bringing the current size of its estate to 834 venues.

The company reiterated the scale of its tax contributions, which it said were as much as £764 million in 2019, around 0.1% of the government’s total tax take, and were likely to be higher still this year.

“The employment and tax contribution of the hospitality industry to the UK economy is often underestimated, or ill-understood, by the political powers-that-be,” the firm said.

“In fact, the industry contributes far more in both areas than other, perhaps more glamorous, businesses.”