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