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Wetherspoons
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
J D Wetherspoon plc (LSE: JDW) (commonly referred to as Wetherspoons) is a British pub chain, founded by Tim Martin in 1979.[1] It is based in Watford and is listed on the London Stock Exchange, where it is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
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J D Wetherspoon pubs have a standard pub menu throughout the country and serve a variety of low priced cask ales, having over 650 Cask Marque accredited houses. There is often a local ale available. Pubs in the chain do not play background music, and usually do not have televisions or screen live sports or news and when there is a television, the sound is muted with subtitles displayed instead. The chain has formidable buying power and until recently did not stock Jack Daniels, Bacardi or Southern Comfort products because of conflicts with suppliers.[citation needed]
Many of the features aimed for in Wetherspoon pubs, such as quiet bars and reasonably-priced lunches, are influenced by George Orwell's essay The Moon Under Water, in which Orwell described his concept of the perfect pub. Several Wetherspoon-owned pubs bear the name "The Moon Under Water".
Many of the pubs are in large converted buildings, such as cinemas, banks, churches or supermarkets. "The Moon Under Water" in Deansgate, Manchester - a former cinema - was once the largest pub in the world[citation needed].
The decor and fittings tend to be in a faux-Victorian public house style with the addition of photos of the local area and information boards concerning local history. They take pride in the standard of decor in the toilets, some of which have won national awards.
Since November 2006, some Wetherspoon pubs have offered free Wi-Fi internet access via The Cloud based on availability. Many pubs have Itbox quiz machines.
Wetherspoon have a policy of offering low price products; they often claim to offer among the lowest priced coffee or burgers of any national chain. The price of cask and tap beer is almost always lower than other pubs and some brands of pre-mixed drinks can be considerably cheaper.[citation needed] A price comparison chart is often displayed outside the pub, titled "Deal or no deal?" and comparing the Wetherspoon prices to those of two nearby pubs.
The Wetherspoon food menu contains a variety of options, ranging from traditional English, Welsh or Scottish pub food to American-style burgers and more contemporary dishes. The chain holds "theme" food nights during the week: "Grill" night (formerly Steak night) on Tuesday, curry club on Thursday and Sunday roast lunches. These theme nights offer a choice of themed meal and a drink at a cheaper price than usual, and in the case of the curry nights offer a significantly larger range of meals. A Chinese food night was operated on Wednesday evenings in some pubs, but has now been dropped.
A study by ITV television show Undercover Mothers found that a third of Wetherspoon pubs studied served steaks from zebu-cross cattle.[2]
The name 'Wetherspoon' comes from an old school teacher of Martin's who once said that Martin "would not amount to anything". The company's employee handbook states that the J.D part of the name comes from Sheriff J.D Hogg, Tim Martin's favourite character in the show Dukes of Hazzard.[citation needed]
As with all other enclosed areas and in line with English legislation, from July 2007, all J D Wetherspoon pubs are completely non-smoking in-doors. Their pubs in Wales and Scotland are similarly affected by Welsh and Scottish legislation brought in previous to England. Additional to this, many JDW pubs offer outside sheltered outside areas which aim to keep smoking customers warm and dry, and where available, awnings, patio-heaters, shelves, tables and even fireplaces have become permanent outside fixtures.
The company also own a chain of new-style bars, under their "Lloyds No.1" brand. These bars play contemporary music (along with corresponding music videos that are displayed on wall-mounted televisions) and often have a small dancefloor. Some sites change from traditional Wetherspoon Pubs to Lloyds Bars at a specific time each night, thus maximising the potential customer base in a geographical area supported by just one premises. Such "hybrid" pubs are referred to by company staff as WetherLloyds. Lloyds Bar has a similar food menu as normal Wetherspoon outlets, though both the food and drink tends to be slightly more expensive.
J D Wetherspoon also own and run their own collection of lodges within the UK. There are (currently) 11 lodges in total, with 7 in England, 2 in Wales, and 2 in Scotland. Lodge rooms are particularly cheap when compared with some of their nearest competitors, and their locations go somewhat against the grain of having hotels in obvious tourist areas (i.e. along the coast), with Wetherspoon Lodges residing in Chesterfield, Henley-on-Thames, Inverness, Salisbury and Monmouth. Many of the lodges regularly run special 2 nights for 1 and 3 nights for 2 offers, where customers can get an extra night's stay for free.
All lodge rooms have all the normal condiments/facilities one would expect: en suite bathrooms, tea- and coffee-making facilities, remote-control TV, telephone, hairdryer, etc. Customers staying at the lodge have easy access to the accompanying JDW pub (as they share the same building) where they can order from the pub food menu. J D Wetherspoon Lodges
- ^ http://www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/ourpubs/discoverwetherspoon/
- ^ Undercover Mothers, ITV, 2007-08-21
- J D Wetherspoon
- J D Wetherspoon Lodges
- Lloyds No1
- J D Wetherspoon company profile from CatererSearch
- Pub Reviews at PubJury.com
Categories: Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since June 2007 | Articles with unsourced statements since July 2007 | Articles with unsourced statements since November 2007 | Public houses in the United Kingdom | Pub chains