TIDMJDW
RNS Number : 8390Y
Wetherspoon (JD) PLC
05 January 2024
Correction Regarding Daily Mirror Article (29 December 2023) and
Daily Record Article (30 December 2023)
The Mirror and Daily Record have issued corrections and
apologies, following inaccurate statements in recent newspaper
articles.
A RNS issued by Wetherspoon on 2 January 2024 highlighted the
inaccuracies in articles in the on-line version of the Daily Mirror
of 29 December 2023 and the Daily Record of 30 December 2023 (see
Appendix 1)
Wetherspoon wrote to both papers on 31 December 2023 requesting
corrections to the articles.
The publications have removed the inaccurate statements and
published the following clarification/apology after both
articles:
"A previous version of this article reported that during the
pandemic, Tim Martin 'suggested his 40,000 staff should go get jobs
in supermarkets amid uncertainty, and said he wouldn't pay staff
that weren't working during the lockdown'. This is incorrect. In
fact, Mr Martin had said that if staff were offered a job in a
supermarket, he would understand if they wanted to take it. We have
also been asked to clarify that Mr Martin did not tell staff they
would not be paid, and that all Wetherspoon staff were paid during
the lockdown. We are happy to clarify this and apologise for the
error"
Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin said:
"Wetherspoon is grateful to Reach plc and the publications
concerned for setting the record straight, by issuing prompt
corrections and apologies."
Appendix 1
Correction Regarding Daily Mirror Article (29 December 2023) and
Daily Record Article (30 December 2023)
An article in the on-line version of the Daily Mirror of 29
December 2023 was headlined "Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin's
mysterious life from rarely-seen wife to simple rule that made
GBP448m".
A similar article in the on-line version of the Daily Record of
30 December 2023 was headlined "Mysterious life of Wetherspoons
boss Tim Martin from rarely -seen wife to rule that made
GBP448m".
Both papers are published by Reach plc.
The articles contained inaccurate and misleading statements
relating to Wetherspoon's and its chairman, Mr Tim Martin's
responses to the closure of pubs in March 2020, as a result of the
Covid -19 pandemic.
The Daily Mirror article said:
"During the pandemic, he [Mr Martin] also suggested his 40,000
staff should go get jobs in supermarkets amid uncertainty, and said
he wouldn't pay staff that weren't working during the lockdown"
The Daily Record article said:
"During Covid-19, he [Mr Martin] suggested that his 40,000 staff
should get jobs in supermarkets and said that he wouldn't pay staff
that weren't working during the lockdown"
Both statements are incorrect.
At no time did Mr Martin tell employees that they would not be
paid.
All employees were paid in the usual way, on the usual payment
date of Friday 27 March 2020 for work done up to 22/23 March
2020.
Following the closure of pubs on Friday 20 March 2020, the
company sent an email to all employees on Wednesday 25 March 2020
confirming that furlough payments would begin on Friday 3 April
2020 and would continue weekly thereafter (for weekly paid staff),
and monthly on 27th of every month for salaried employees.
All staff were paid weekly / monthly throughout the pandemic -
not one payment to employees was missed or delayed.
Mr Martin also did not suggest that employees "get jobs in
supermarkets".
This is a distortion of what was actually said in a video issued
to staff on 23 March 2020.
What Mr Martin said to staff in the video was as follows:
"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 to do it, I can
completely understand it."
Immediate corrections are being sought from both the Daily
Mirror and the Daily Record.
The statement is very surprising given that the Daily Mirror
published stories on 30 April 2020 and 4 May 2020 during the
pandemic itself, which contained the same or similar misleading
statements.
The company wrote to the Daily Mirror at the time pointing this
out to them, and successfully requested a correction to which the
Daily Mirror agreed.
The correction is summarised below, as set out in the "Does
Truth Matter?" version of the Wetherspoon News magazine, published
in 2021, which highlighted similar inaccurate media reporting of
Wetherspoon's response to the pandemic - and the many apologies and
corrections Wetherspoon secured as a result.
Extract from Wetherspoon News "Does Truth Matter?" Edition
" In two articles dated 30 April 2020 and 4 May 2020, the Daily
Mirror incorrectly said that Wetherspoon's chairman, Tim Martin,
"sack[ed] his staff and [told] them to work for Tesco".
Following Wetherspoon's representations, the Daily Mirror
printed the correction below:
Correction: The article originally stated Mr Martin "prompted
anger and eventually a U-turn on wages after suggesting staff
should 'go and work in Tesco'". A video caption also stated Mr
Martin "tells 40,000 staff to 'go to work at Tesco'".
We accept Mr Martin did not tell staff to work in Tesco or use
the words "go and work in Tesco". Instead, he said if staff thought
it was a good idea to take a supermarket job, "do it, I can
completely understand it."
We are happy to make this clear and apologise for the
confusion.
J D Wetherspoon also dispute that there was a "U-turn on wages",
because staff wages were paid on March 27 for hours worked up to
March 23.
We have clarified the story to make clear there was an argument
about furlough pay, not past wages, and that the firm confirmed on
March 25 that staff would receive furlough pay from April 3
onwards."
The full version of "Does Truth Matter?" can be downloaded from
the Wetherspoon website here.
https://www.jdwetherspoon.com/
Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin said:
"There is an old joke among journalists about not letting the
truth get in the way of a good story. The Mirror got its facts
wrong the first time - and apologised. Making almost exactly the
same derogatory comments a second time is unacceptable behaviour
and beyond a joke."
Enquiries:
Nigel Connor Legal Director 07876 232529
Eddie Gershon Company Spokesman 07956 392234
Please send any questions by email to investorqueries@jdwetherspoon.co.uk
Notes to editors
1. J D Wetherspoon owns and operates pubs throughout the UK. The
Company aims to provide customers with good-quality food and drink,
served by well-trained and friendly staff, at reasonable prices.
The pubs are individually designed, and the Company aims to
maintain them in excellent condition.
2. Visit our website: www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms
and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information
contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an
anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services.
For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange
use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy
Policy.
END
SPCBSGDBRSGDGSU
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 05, 2024 09:50 ET (14:50 GMT)
Wetherspoon ( J.d.) (LSE:JDW)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De Abr 2024 a May 2024
Wetherspoon ( J.d.) (LSE:JDW)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De May 2023 a May 2024