7th May 2020 12:09
(Alliance News) - JD Wetherspoon PLC on Thursday said that articles written by business magazine Forbes both on Sunday and on March 27 were misleading, and misread comments made by a video recorded by the pub chain on March 22.
Wetherspoon said that the Forbes articles claimed that the company told the "workforce that not only would they not be paid, but they can trot off to get a job in a supermarket".
The group provided a transcript of the video, in which founder and Chair Tim Martin said "all our endeavours are going to be on trying to make sure that you get your money and that the pubs reopen".
Since then staff have been paid every Friday, the group said.
Wetherspoon also said that the comment about supermarkets was misleading, and noted that Martin said "We've had lots of calls from supermarkets, Tesco alone want 20,000 people to join them, that's half the number of people who work in our pubs. If I'm being honest I say you can get the furlough payments and stay at home, if you're offered a job in a supermarket many of you will want to do that, if you think it's a good idea do it, I can completely understand it".
Finally, the group countered Forbes's claim that Wetherspoon's "announced that...pubs WILL open sometime in June", referring to an announcement on Wednesday last week which stated that "the company's current assumptions are that its pubs will remain closed until late June 2020".
Shares in JD Wetherspoons were up 0.4% at 903.50 pence on Thursday in London.
By Dayo Laniyan; [email protected]
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