Wetherspoons announce an expansion over the next 5 years of 250 pubs.

The "headline" screams "10,000 jobs" which sounds ok until you realise.

Each pub will have 40 people working in it !!! ( 10,000 / 250 ) Obviously their other pubs which seem to have a staff of around 15 with 7 on at any one time are not the model for this expansion.

In addition they have not yet found 200+ of these pubs to buy/build - and most of the openings are slated for 2014/15.

So this is a total fabrication by the news media in order to try and help the ailing stock markets today.

Talk about SPIN - this is worse than that - it is down right lies.

newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8387862.stm

This is yet further evidence of LIES because the Second Crash is with us ( remember the media refused to call this a recession for 12 months - it was a credit crunch LOL ) Our media are so BIASED now towards big business and New Labour they are just a mouthpiece for them and their editors cant differentiate between Truth and Lies anymore.

Do the maths.

Numbers sound about right,but these are not full timers,and will include casuals taken on for the summer etc.
A friend worked for them in the Summer,and from their description it does sound about right.
The amount of full timers will be much less,but plenty of morning cleaners etc will push the numbers up.


What it doesn't mention however is how many jobs will be lost in local competing pubs/restaurants.I doubt if the overall result will be any real jobs at all after you take this into consideration.

So all of these jobs ( or 90% ) are part time - so I have been even more misled. They are presented by the media as 10,000 full time jobs. No mention of part time.

I then looked again at the article. LEOMINSTER WETHERSPOONS was purchased 3 years ago - and they have been putting off opening it - so this is just re-announcing opening each year - but never actually opening many of them.

I admire Wetherspoons as everyone knows on here - but I feel this announcement is very very thin in substance.

And you can still never get served in the bloody places!
Food is usually poor as they employ too many kids in the kitchens who have no cooking experience, most meals are straight out of the microwave anyway.
Ok for cheap beer but as for atmosphere it is non existent as they are all music free, all you can here is one big rabble with all the different conversations going on.

Wetherspoons (JDW) have stolen a march on a sleepy UK pub industry - by innovation.

No other group

- opens from 9am to Midnight/1am
- serves food all day
- becomes a nite-club at weekends (JDW/Lloyds outlets)
- has 12,000 staff and a £1b+ turnover
- constantly wins hygiene awards
- is in most city centre locations

The latest innovation?

A Spirit Gun. This dispenses 16 different spirits without the need for labour intensive optics; service is much faster, reducing peak/4 deep rows at the counter.

Apart from ideal pub locations, the outlets themselves are also innovative and interesting. Old churches, banks, swimming pools and even the Opera House in Tunbridge Wells - with the bar on the stage and where operea is still produced!

The British pub industry just moans and doesn't even try to compete!

Carl wrote:

Food is usually poor as they employ too many kids in the kitchens who have no cooking experience, most meals are straight out of the microwave anyway.


Carl obviously hasn't eaten in a Wetherspoon - where most meals are not from the microwave and the cooking is undertaking by trained staff. The JDW 'all day breakfast' for c£2.99 is as good as any 3* hotel and better (in terms of quality and value) than most caffs.

Credit where its due?

Janet wrote:
Wetherspoons (JDW) have stolen a march on a sleepy UK pub industry - by innovation.

No other group

- opens from 9am to Midnight/1am
- serves food all day
- becomes a nite-club at weekends (JDW/Lloyds outlets)
- has 12,000 staff and a £1b+ turnover
- constantly wins hygiene awards
- is in most city centre locations

The latest innovation?

A Spirit Gun. This dispenses 16 different spirits without the need for labour intensive optics; service is much faster, reducing peak/4 deep rows at the counter.

Apart from ideal pub locations, the outlets themselves are also innovative and interesting. Old churches, banks, swimming pools and even the Opera House in Tunbridge Wells - with the bar on the stage and where operea is still produced!

The British pub industry just moans and doesn't even try to compete!

Overall they have broken the mold,and it is nice to see they broke the monopoly of the greedy big brewers.

Innocent Accused wrote:
Overall they have broken the mold,and it is nice to see they broke the monopoly of the greedy big brewers.[/quote]

Too right! JWD's are not perfect and not everyone's cup of tea.

But they have outstripped the competition under most headings, breweries included.

How long before one of the many poor-performing breweries is acquired by JDW (they are already opening hotels)?

History repeating itself - in reverse!

Actually I have eaten in Wetherspoons pubs, too many times to remember over the years and on the whole I can say the food is CRAP.
More often than not it comes out cold(after being left under the heat lamps for god knows how long).
I have probably had 5 good meals in the different Wetherspoons pubs I have tried over the years, probably more luck than judgement.
As for the breakfast, like any of the other meals would be nice if it were cooked by people who know what they are doing, they seem to lack the ability to get everything cooked so it comes out at the same time which means certain items are hot and other items stone cold.

Let me add to this discussion - not only have I never eaten in Wetherspoons but I have no idea what or where they are!

I'm a former Wetherspoons barman (in my student days) and actually, JK, I don't think you should knock it, even though you're not a drinker.

You'd enjoy the several different types of coffee, for as little as £1. The food is generally excellent value for money.

It's a well-oiled machine and tightly controlled from head office. I was working during a difficult time for that particular pub, but in general, they treat their staff fairly, although they are often expected to work long hours.

If you're ever in my part of the world, we'll have lunch in one of the several around here.

Wetherspoons represent excellent value - they do the Macdonalds philosphy - they are all the same in what they deliver. The quality is decent - at £2.99 for many of the meals they represent value.

12,000 staff in 750 pubs.

So at last the 10,000 in 250 pubs has been shown to be a TOTAL SPUN LIE for the benefit of the Government - which is now disproved by their own press release.

Thank you for posting that. The real number of jobs being created by the 250 pubs is : 4,000. That obviously includes part time staff as well. So less than 1,000 full time jobs have probably been created. So they have spun the story at TEN TIMES the actual number.

.....and people wonder why no one believes the spin anymore.....in the UK everything is now spin.

Agree with Marcus.

They offer very good value for money, and the quality is certainly not bad. If I ever wanted a basic lunch, or a coffee etc., I would certainly consider a Weatherspoons.

JK, there are probably quite a few near you, but they trade under a local pub name or Lloyds No.1 (Lloyds No.1 are a bit more basic than a traditional Weatherspoons, but the same concept).

The guy who runs the company, Tim Martin, has done a great job for pubs, and bucked the trend of pubs closing.

JK2006 wrote:
Let me add to this discussion - not only have I never eaten in Wetherspoons but I have no idea what or where they are!

Very cheap pubs, with good range of real ale and food (cheap) served all day.

Popular with all kinds of people (esa whinos ! LOL) but - the "mix" seems to work. In an average day you can find old ladies having afternoon tea almost next to whinos having their latest gallon !

BR wrote:
Wetherspoons represent excellent value - they do the Macdonalds philosphy - they are all the same in what they deliver. The quality is decent - at £2.99 for many of the meals they represent value.

Wetherspoons (JDW) have shown the UK pub industry for what it is - third rate; its about to do more. The Competitions Commission has given the green light to JDW for the acquisition of a brewery!

Its outlets will therefore soon sell JDW beer which will be brewed in a US high-tech manner. JDW personnel have recently visited the Anheuser-Busch (Budweiser etc.) breweries in St Louis and Jacksonville; these are the most advanced and largest in the world.

Maybe this development might, at last, encourage the industry to try to compete with JDW. (Four of the five pubs where I live open at noon!)

History repeats itself, in reverse!

In the past, breweries opened pubs to sell their beers. Now, pubs (JDW, at least) are buying breweries to make it....

My favourite WETHERSPOONS is at Highgate opposite the School. It has the Upstairs at the Gatehouse venue next door. Easy to get to and also next to Hampstead Heath as well - it is a big place and full of history.

Not the best food there - the Wetherspoons out of London seem to be better sourced for ingredients in my view.

"spoons" as it is known to its regulars is now a fashion with people looking for real ale and cheap food.

They also have Steak Nights and Curry Nights where you get a FREE drink with the meal ( The meals are usually around £5 to £8 ) Out of London some of these nights are very very popular and are packed out.

In my time at Wetherspoons, we opened at 10am. I think that pub still does.
During the course of a day you'd see the full sphere of life.
At the start of the day, you'd get the tramps and alcoholics (a group of about 6 of them) who would arrive at 10am on the dot and stay until late afternoon, sat in the corner.
A steady trickle of shoppers would come in for coffee from the start.
At lunchtime, we'd get the business-types in their suits, often ordering meals.
Then in the evening, the young 'uns would be in, drinking too much, too quickly, before heading off to the nearby night clubs.
Someone mentioned Lloyds Bars- the main difference with them is they do play music, which gradually increases in volume as the day progresses, to the extent that it's more-or-less a night club by the evening (albeit older people would find them more comfortable than a conventional club).

Pearl- have you got any links to back up these plans? I wouldn't mind reading more about it, but can't fin much online.
Many thanks.

Marcus - look at www.beerintheevening.com

The Forums area.

Pearl wrote:
Marcus - look at www.beerintheevening.com

The Forums area.



Thanks Pearl!