There has been another thought on my mind: Was this the last Wetherfest? Or at least the last as we know it?
 |
| 50/50 (not a rating!) |
For the first time, the overall size of the estate is contracting rather than expanding, and at an alarming pace.
Customers are reacting negatively to this, particularly in areas that are losing their last or only Spoons. Then there has been the huge backlash over their plans to stop serving Sunday Roasts.
(The 'roasts' were truly awful, so I'm not bothered, but a lot of people seemed to enjoy spending their Sabbaths eating slimy pre-sliced meat and microwaved bags of vegetables.)
There are whispers - nothing concrete, mind, but certainly speculation and rumours - that the company is making a few adjustments ahead of a substantial change to its operations. Does this mean a sell-off? Is Tim Martin preparing to step down as Chairman? Are we going to see the estate broken up into smaller chunks, some of which won't be Spoons as we know them?
And what would any of this mean for the beer policy?
I hope Spoons continue. I hope the biannual Wetherfests carry on. And I hope they can get back to acquiring new premises and expanding once more.
But nothing lasts forever, and I'm getting a vibe that the end may be nigh.
We've discussed this a fair bit on Twitter, but I do get the impression that Spoons have rather lost their way. I've made the comment in the past (although I can't find where) that any move to formally segment their estate, although it may be hailed as a sound move, will signal that the writing is on the wall.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is that once Timbo decides to take a back seat, the company will end up being carved up amongst its major competitors, although one may keep a diminished Wetherspoon chain just consisting of the most profitable High Street venues. But that will probably turn out to be entirely wrong!
I see today that this has triggered a substantial debate across the Tweetosphere, and that's probably a good thing. I like to provoke discussion, and while I might be overreacting to a few closures, I'm a regular Spoons drinker and there is a real sense of uncertainty amongst managers and customers alike.
ReplyDeleteObiouvly, I wrote this before Martin's speech at the CAMRA AGM; maybe he managed to assuage some concerns. But pubs are still closing across the country, some of them at just a few days notice, and entirely separately to the job lots that were put on the market a few months ago.