JD Wetherspoon PLC (LSE:JDW) boss Tim Martin took a swipe at the ousted Tory government’s approach to alcohol taxes in a trading update published this Wednesday.
Martin accused the Tories of failing “to implement tax equality between pubs and supermarkets, leading to pub closures and underinvestment”, while calling for fairer treatment from Labour chancellor Rachel Reeves.
“Wetherspoon hopes that the current chancellor, with a Bank of England pedigree, will understand how many beans make five, and rectify this inequality,” said Martin
He noted that each individual ‘Spoons pub generated taxes “of one sort or another” of £7 million in the last 10 years, “as well as generating considerable employment and social benefits”.
Like-for-like sales increased by 5.8% in the 10 weeks to 7 July, bringing revenues to record levels.
"Sales per pub are approximately 21% higher than pre-pandemic levels, which has helped to compensate for the very substantial increase in costs,” said Martin.