Will you drink in Wetherspoons when pubs re-open?

[MyQul]

We are all in it...some up to the neck..others are dipping a toe...same old...

I've never understood the 'mike ashley business model' If you treat your workers well they they feel part of something, staff morale and retainment is high , work harder for you and you make just as much profit from workers who you squeeze because profits are lost through sickness, repeated recruitment costs etc

 

[Guybrush Threepwood]

Agree that we are all in this together, but these business owners have to try and ensure their businesses survive these times. There are knock on effects to their employees, suppliers, creditors etc if they go under. As Clint mentioned earlier, these big companies tend not to be cash rich and any disruption in operation can have massive repercussions, especially if it lasts for months. Also agree on Ashley though, he is another level of contemptible.

 

[Brew_DD2]

I've never understood the 'mike ashley business model' If you treat your workers well they they feel part of something, staff morale and retainment is high , work harder for you and you make just as much profit from workers who you squeeze because profits are lost through sickness, repeated recruitment costs etc

He's another **** I don't give my business to.

 

[Clint]

They do get lots of cash/revenue but what isnt payed in direct costs,wages and dividend is spent on the business...so very little goes to the taxman...

 

[foxy]

In business there are a lot of seemingly heartless people who more often than not get the job (what their investors expect) done, without investors there wouldn't be the 43,000 jobs.
Better to save the hate for the likes of Maxwell who rob their employees and shareholders.

 

[Shaft]

I think Westherspoons are great from a consumer point of view. Can't comment on how staff are treated, but they seem happy enough to work there, and much of the lunchtime trade in town wouldn't just move to another pub if they weren't there (it would go to cafe / restaurant instead), so it provides a fantastic choice to the consumer in my mind whilst providing many jobs. It's horses for courses. My preferred local is a small old CAMRA pub which I can take my dog to and whom only started taking card payments 6 months ago. But in town, when I'm waiting for a train or just want a cheap lunch and pint on a Friday, JD can't be beat. I'd take most of the media apoplexy about Tim with a large pinch of salt. He's been a bogeyman with one side of the political divide since the Brexit vote. Likewise James Dyson.

 

[Alex.mc]

I will be avoiding them completely unless impossible to.
Impossible to will be stuck at an airport where they're the only place serving palatable beer, or... if I'm with a group of friends who can't be persuaded anywhere else(very unlikely).

 

[MickDundee]

All you poor saps saying that Wetherspoons is the only place in the airport to get a decent pint - Edinburgh Airport has a Brewdog bar!

 

[Clint]

Brewdog...good,more pricey beer...with the Spoons it's about cheap...and high volumes..that's why they're always busy.

 

[MickDundee]

Brewdog...good,more pricey beer...with the Spoons it's about cheap...and high volumes..that's why they're always busy.

My point wasn’t about getting cheap beer at the airport, it was getting “a decent pint” at the airport. Besides
1) Spoons airport prices are higher than the high street whereas BD are about the same as their high street pubs. The difference in price between my pint of real ale with my lunch at Wetherspoons and my glass of Hazy Jane whilst waiting for the flight to be called last summer was about £1
2) When I’m on holiday I want to enjoy myself, not trail around looking for the cheapest price for stuff. If that was the case I’d spend every summer in Benidorm eating breakfast at John and Joseph’s (is that still there?)

 

[Clint]

Yes..decent beer,I get that...for most it's the cheap beer that attracts.

 

[MickDundee]

Yes..decent beer,I get that...for most it's the cheap beer that attracts.

Airport Spoons aren’t particularly cheap. I’d rather pay £5 for a £5 drink in Brewdog than £4 for a £2 drink at Wetherspoons when I’m at the airport.

 

[Clint]

I haven't been to an airport for probably 30 years... doesn't look like I'll be going anytime soon either!
A week in Devon or Scotland would do me nicely...some walking, metal detecting and fishing...good food and loads of beer...and peace and quiet!

 

[Dorst]

All you poor saps saying that Wetherspoons is the only place in the airport to get a decent pint - Edinburgh Airport has a Brewdog bar!

It's great that Edinburgh airport has a Brewdog bar - but that's not very useful if you are stuck at Birmingham airport where there was only a WS now is it? As mentioned I would have preferred to buy a pint elsewhere - so hopefully more airports get Brewdog bars.

In general I would welcome some better options for beer at airports. I remember having amazing Rogue and Alchemist beers at San Fransisco airport. It made my flight a lot better.

 

[MickDundee]

It's great that Edinburgh airport has a Brewdog bar - but that's not very useful if you are stuck at Birmingham airport where there was only a WS now is it?

That was kind of my point - Rubbing it in that those of us in the East of Scotland have better options!

 

[Druncan]

Post Covid, Spoons maybe the only bars that can cope with the social distancing rules. We will never be able to comply due to premise shape and It's no fek'n use opening for a 30% footfall. We are at a total loss how we can ever trade again. Think of your local pubs and the space they have? Tim has large converted barns that will be adapted i'm sure. The rest of us will be fooked. Our restaurant will stay as a greenhouse for the foreseeable,, At least I have my brewing!

 

[unforgiven]

no

 

[Bert Archer]

Because of the high turnover of cask ale at a typical Wetherspoon pub you normally get a pint in good condition. At £2.15 a pint (at my local Wetherspoon) it is a no-brainer - especially when most other pubs are charging anything from £3.50 to £4 for a pint of cask ale.

 

[trueblue]

Because of the high turnover of cask ale at a typical Wetherspoon pub you normally get a pint in good condition. At £2.15 a pint (at my local Wetherspoon) it is a no-brainer - especially when most other pubs are charging anything from £3.50 to £4 for a pint of cask ale.

I only drink cask ale and I have found their beer no better than average at best. I am happy to pay more for a beer in peak condition.

 

[obscure]

Price up to a point isn’t my biggest concern when choosing a pub. Its rare for me to have more than a couple of pints in a pub, (last time I drank more than three in a pub was over the Christmas period where I met up,with a couple of friends I hadn’t seen since well the previous Christmas period). Meaning even with stupidly high Oxford prices I‘m still going to be below £20, it’s rare for me to go to a pub ,more than two times in a week. If I was drinking five pints a day in the pub, then my views might be different.

The atmosphere in Wetherspoons is rarely that great, yes in a rural pub you will pay £4 a pint, in a central Oxford pub you might pay £4.5-£5 a pint. Heck in my local pub up the road from me you will pay £3.80 for some beers, you will also have open fires in winter, comfortable seats, and a generally pleasant atmosphere. The problem Is that a lot of these pubs especially in city centres are small really small in terms of floor space, and I really doubt they will be viable if social distancing needs to be maintained. It is a real worry that at the end of this we will left with Wetherspoons and similar corporate pubs, and all the free houses, and for that matter pubs that while tied to a brewery or pub Co have decent landlords committed to decent beer and service. While some pubs that serve food also have excellent beer, I fear that wet led pubs will be particularly badly affected.