Wetherspoons boss Sir Tim Martin brands Dry January a 'cult', and effect on pub sales has got worse in recent years
15 January 2024, 20:04
Wetherspoons founder Sir Tim Martin has labelled Dry January a "cult" as he said that its effect on pub sales have become worse in recent years.
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Speaking to LBC's Andrew Marr, Sir Tim said that Dry January - when people take a month off drinking after the excesses of December - "has always been part of the drinking world".
Sir Tim, whose JD Wetherspoon chain has over 800 pubs across the UK, said he had seen the effect of Dry January on sales "for 44 years".
The entrepreneur joked with Andrew, who is also taking part in Dry January: "I think where you’ve joined the cult, Andrew, and you’re obviously quite impressionable, is it’s become part of the phraseology.
"Perhaps people who didn’t think of it, or even drink too much, have jumped on the bandwagon as well."
Sir Tim Martin speaks to LBC
He added that "publicans can’t celebrate it but nor can we criticise it really."
Sir Tim, who was knighted in the New Year honours list, said that the effect of Dry January on pub business had become worse in recent years.
He said: "I think it’s become a bit more pronounced - the gap between December and January, and of course over the last 30 years you’ve had the number of units per week being reduced.
"I would say there’s been a certain movement against going to the pub, perhaps justified for health reasons in some cases - but January, I would say, has got worse."
It comes amid a debate about the decline in people going to pubs, with some arguing that drinks are too expensive. Andrew pointed out that alcohol-free drinks are also expensive, as well as beers.
Sir Tim said that some alcohol-free drinks might be expensive because they are new and "a lot of work has gone into the development of the new product."
He added that "the brewers say they’re more expensive to produce, and there may be some truth in all that."
Sir Tim said: "I think in general the volume of beer sold in pubs has reduced and there’s always an element of people trying to make it up with slightly higher prices, if the brutal truth be told."
Even amid declining rates of pub-going, young people are said to stand out. Some 44% of people aged between 18 and 24 said that they regularly or occasionally drink low-alcohol or alcohol-free drinks, according to a new survey.
Sir Tim said that his observation was that "young people still drink".
He added: "I think what's different from your day or my day, is let's say in the 70s or 80s, 50% of people met their partner in a pub, and now pubs have become relatively expensive and people are going out slightly less on a nightly basis to have a couple of pints in the local... that may be affecting young people's approach.
He added that after lockdown "we sold more shots - which is a young people's drink - than real ale. It's now back to normal. That didn't indicate to me that young people were off the sherbet."
Sir Tim also called for a "sensible rebalancing" on tax between pubs and supermarkets.
He told Andrew: "I think that eventually pubs are going to have to have the same tax system as supermarkets. So supermarkets now pay zero VAT on food, and pubs and restaurants pay 20%. I don't think that's sustainable. Supermarkets have done a massively wonderful job for the public.
"They've reduced prices - it's like Aladdin's Cave when you go in there. And they're very profitable and very powerful. Pubs aren't. So it doesn't make sense to tax pubs higher than supermarkets. That comes from an old era when supermarkets barely sold any beer."
