Wetherspoons News. Gammon dropped from the menu
Tim Martin has noted that Greene King Abbot his favourite cask beer. It sells for as little as £1.99 a pint in some Spoons but costs more in some City Centres- Captain Flinders, Euston Station, £4.74. Having known Martin back to his Marlers, Muswell Hill days I think his favourite beer was once Courage Directors but he has been consistent in recent years on Abbot.
Steak and other grills (including Gammon) have disappeared from the menu as of May 14th and have been replaced with a gourmet burger range. Cost is the key issue. If you check how much steak costs in budget supermarket Lidl you’ll see why. Steak with a beer in cheaper Spoons is currently not far short of £15.
Martin is still (correctly) raising the issue of the price advantage supermarkets have on beer and lager sales compared to pubs.
Wetherspoons remains very profitable. The most recent set of results saw profits rise by 58% year on year (Sunday Times 30th March). That’s not the full financial story but it is still better than some areas of hospitality (though Big Beer like Heineken & ABInBev is doing very well of course) Meanwhile Wetherspoons still doesn’t recognise trade unions. Given that Martin built his first pub empire in the North London Borough of Haringey, still a strongly unionised place, he is not being honest to his own roots here.
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