Breaking News – Wetherspoon’s posts £105m pre-tax loss

HIGH street pub chain Wetherspoon’s has announced a pre-tax loss of £105m, as founder Tim Martin blames “massive confusion” over the government’s coronavirus rules.

The pub chain boss said he thought the UK should adopt the Swedish model for pandemics to allow his pubs to open again properly. 

Mr Martin revealed Wetherspoon sales fell from £1.82bn to £1.26bn in the year to 26 July, while the chain reported a loss before tax of £105.4m.

Its chairman criticised ever changing COVID-19 rules,

“Under emergency powers, the government is making a lot of changes,” Mr Martin told the BBC’s Today programme,

“which we think in the industry are arbitrary, don’t work, like the curfew, and that’s making life almost impossible.”

The Wetherspoons boss also claimed there was “massive confusion” in the UK  over regulations, and said he supported Sweden’s model – which has chosen to keep large parts of society open while social distancing is promoted – where Mr Martin claimed,

“everyone knows what they’ve got to do”.