FareShare
FareShare is the UK’s largest charity fighting hunger and food waste. It saves good food from going to waste, redistributing it to frontline charities. Since working with FareShare, Wetherspoon has donated over 300 meals a week, on average, to the charity.
Between August 2021 and July 2022, the company donated 54,143 meals to 1,118 charities.
This equates to food donations totalling 24 tonnes.
Local charities
Collectively, our pubs have also donated to local and other charities and organisations, including the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
In 2022, to fund ongoing humanitarian support in Ukraine, the pubs raised £19,000 on behalf of the Disasters Emergency Committee.
Industry trade bodies and associations
Wetherspoon is a member of the following trade bodies, associations and charities:
UK Hospitality – campaigning on behalf of its retailer members, encouraging the government to recognise and act on the economic, social and charitable values which pubs bring to communities up and down the land.
British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) – members are responsible for 90% of the beer brewed in Britain today and represent around 20,000 of Britain’s pubs. They include international companies, family brewers, managed locals and the nation’s largest tenanted pub estates. The association’s aim is to support, represent and campaign for the well-being of the beer and pub sector.
Drinkaware – an independent charity working to reduce harm from alcohol misuse in the UK.
National Pubwatch – a voluntary organisation set up to promote best practice through supporting local pubwatch schemes’ work. Its aim is to achieve a safer drinking environment in all licensed premises throughout the UK.
Zero Carbon Forum (ZCF) – a non-profit organisation, empowering members of the hospitality industry to reach sustainability targets with more speed, efficiency and profit – as a united effort.
The Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) – a not-for-profit organisation supporting companies in working towards sustainability, guiding customers to make more sustainable choices.
Supplier Ethical Data Exchange (Sedex) – the world’s largest collaborative platform for sharing responsible sourcing data on supply chains (including labour rights, health and safety, the environment and business ethics), used by over 50,000 members in more than 150 countries.
Community engagement
Pubs as part of the local community
Pubs are a focal point of the community. We try to contribute in several ways.
The company has several practices and procedures enabling pubs to operate without causing a disturbance to those living and/or working around them, so that we become, and remain, a ‘good neighbour’ in the local community.
Research (published in June 2018) by the data and research consultancy CGA has shown that a Wetherspoon pub more often has a positive effect on the local area and can stimulate general local interest in eating out.
Pubs’ design and facilities
Over the years, the company has won several awards for pubs’ design and community facilities.
Local art and history
Many of the company’s pubs are restored from interesting and, in several cases, unique buildings which are steeped in history, including from the world of entertainment, banking and railways. The interiors are individually designed and contain a wealth of local artwork, including paintings, sculptures and local history information reflecting the history of the building and its surrounding area.
The company works with, and is very grateful to, many local history societies. These support the company as part of the original pub design process – and continuing into the future.
Copies of many of the history panels, photographs and other information are available on the company’s website (search for ‘pub histories’).
Public-access defibrillators
These have been installed in 20 pubs and at the Wethercentre (the head office in Watford) for use by the wider community. Most of them are sited on an external wall, although some are currently inside the building. Following feedback from our employees and customers, we have committed to continue to install these at the pubs and hotels.
Public-access defibrillators are available at The Furze Wren (Bexleyheath), The Three Hulats (Chapel Allerton), The Moon under Water (Cheltenham), The Counting House (Congleton), The Guildhall & Linen Exchange (Dunfermline), The Regal (Gloucester), The Rodboro Buildings (Guildford), The Gordon Highlander (Inverurie), The Gold Cape (Mold), The Union Rooms (Plymouth), The Watch Maker (Prescot), The Unicorn Hotel (Ripon), The Regal Moon (Rochdale), The Salt Cot (Saltcoates), The Bankers Draft (Sheffield), The Sir Henry Segrave (Southport), The Society Rooms (Stalybridge), The William Webb Ellis (Twickenham), The Tim Bobbin (Urmston) and The Horseshoe (Wombwell).
Supporting customers with disabilities
The company has worked with the charity Changing Places which supports those with physical disabilities (such as spinal injuries, muscular dystrophy and multiple sclerosis) who may need extra facilities or space to allow them to use a toilet safely and comfortably. Changing Places toilets are different from standard accessible toilets (or disabled toilets) and larger – to meet the needs of those using them. We have built Changing Places toilets in 11 pubs, providing these facilities for disabled customers and their carers.
Changing Places facilities are available at The Pilgrim’s Progress (Bedford), The Velvet Coaster (Blackpool), Captain Ridley’s Shooting Party (Bletchley), The Prior John (Bridlington), The Booking Office (Edinburgh), The Lifeboat (Formby), The Troll Cart (Great Yarmouth), Sandford House (Huntingdon), The Mossy Well (Muswell Hill), Royal Victoria Pavilion (Ramsgate) and The Iron Duke (Wellington).
We have teamed up with Good Food Talks to make it easier for our visually impaired customers to browse through the menu at their local Wetherspoon. Good Food Talks (goodfoodtalks.com) enhances facilities for the blind and visually impaired, when dining out, as well as for those with other reading difficulties, allowing browsing and listening to the menu through a fully accessible website and mobile app (Android and iOS).
Working in partnership with Mencap, we provide work placements in our pubs for those with
learning difficulties.
We support the Not Every Disability is Visible campaign, highlighting the stigma and misunderstanding which can surround those with invisible disabilities, including colitis and Crohn’s disease.
Levelling-up
The Purpose Coalition (
www.purpose-coalition.org) was founded with the aim of demonstrating the contribution which private-sector businesses, such as Wetherspoon, can make to the government’s levelling-up agenda, by providing social mobility and equality of opportunity across the UK, in areas with wide-ranging affluence and deprivation. This support can come in many ways, including:
- social security and mobility through employment, skills, training, an extensive apprenticeship programme and a culture of supporting internal promotion and progression.
- bonus scheme for all employees and share ownership, through the share incentive plan.
- employee engagement in decision-making and active participation in the business strategy.
- Appointing two employee directors and two further associate employee directors, who attend board meetings and offer the experience of pub-based employees who are in close contact with customers.
- community investment through the restoration of local and historic buildings, providing community facilities, high-street reinvigoration and local history promotion.
- offering patrons affordable food and drinks, in comfortable surroundings – a local community meeting place
- supporting other UK companies, including microbreweries, food suppliers, crockery- and carpet-makers
- taxes paid – contributing to the UK economy (see below)
How pubs contribute to the economy
Wetherspoon and other pub and restaurant companies have always generated far more in taxes
than is earned in profits.
In the financial year ended 30 July 2023, the company generated taxes of £760.2 million.
The table below shows the tax revenue (£6 billion) generated by the company, its staff and customers in the last 10 years. During that period, each pub (on average) generated £6.8 million in tax. During this 10-year period, the tax generated by the company equates to approximately 25 times the company’s profits after tax.
|
|
2023
|
2022
|
2021
|
2020
|
2019
|
2018
|
2017
|
2016
|
2015
|
2014
|
TOTAL
2014 to 2023
|
|
£m
|
£m
|
£m
|
£m
|
£m
|
£m
|
£m
|
£m
|
£m
|
£m
|
£m
|
|
VAT
|
372.3 |
287.7
|
93.8
|
244.3
|
357.9
|
332.8
|
323.4
|
311.7
|
294.4
|
275.1
|
2,893.4
|
|
Alcohol duty
|
166.1 |
156.6
|
70.6
|
124.2
|
174.4
|
175.9
|
167.2
|
164.4
|
161.4
|
157.0
|
1,519.8
|
|
PAYE and NIC
|
124 |
141.9
|
101.5
|
106.6
|
121.4
|
109.2
|
96.2
|
95.1
|
84.8
|
78.4
|
1,059.1
|
|
Business rates
|
49.9 |
50.3
|
1.5
|
39.5
|
57.3
|
55.6
|
53.0
|
50.2
|
48.7
|
44.9
|
450.9
|
|
Corporation tax
|
12.2 |
1.5
|
–
|
21.5
|
19.9
|
26.1
|
20.7
|
19.9
|
15.3
|
18.4
|
155.5
|
|
Corporation tax credit
(historic capital allowances)
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
-2.0
|
–
|
-2.0
|
|
Fruit/slot machine duty
|
15.7 |
12.8
|
4.3
|
9.0
|
11.6
|
10.5
|
10.5
|
11
|
11.2
|
11.3
|
107.9
|
|
Climate change levies
|
11.1 |
9.7
|
7.9
|
10.0
|
9.6
|
9.2
|
9.7
|
8.7
|
6.4
|
6.3
|
88.6
|
|
Stamp duty
|
0.9 |
2.7
|
1.8
|
4.9
|
3.7
|
1.2
|
5.1
|
2.6
|
1.8
|
2.1
|
26.8
|
|
Sugar tax
|
3.1 |
2.9
|
1.3
|
2.0
|
2.9
|
0.8
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
12.8
|
|
Fuel duty
|
1.9 |
1.9
|
1.1
|
1.7
|
2.2
|
2.1
|
2.1
|
2.1
|
2.9
|
2.1
|
20.1
|
| Apprenticeship levy |
2.5 |
2.2 |
1.9 |
1.2 |
1.3 |
1.7 |
0.6 |
–
|
–
|
–
|
11.4 |
|
Carbon tax
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
1.9
|
3.0
|
3.4
|
3.6
|
3.7
|
2.7
|
18.3
|
|
Premise licence and TV licences
|
0.5 |
0.5
|
0.5
|
1.1
|
0.8
|
0.7
|
0.8
|
0.8
|
1.6
|
0.7
|
8
|
|
Landfill tax
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
1.7
|
2.5
|
2.2
|
2.2
|
1.5
|
10.1
|
|
Furlough
tax rebate
|
–
|
-4.4
|
-213.0
|
-124.1
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
-341.5
|
|
Eat Out
to Help Out
|
–
|
–
|
-23.2
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
-23.2
|
|
Local government grants
|
–
|
-1.4
|
-11.1
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
-12.5
|
|
TOTAL TAX
|
760.2
|
662.7
|
37.0
|
440.7
|
763.6
|
728.8
|
694.6
|
672.3
|
632.4
|
600.5
|
6,003.5
|
|
TAX PER PUB
|
0.92
|
0.78
|
0.04
|
0.53
|
0.87
|
0.83
|
0.77
|
0.71
|
0.67
|
0.66
|
6.78
|
|
TAX AS % OF NET SALES
|
39.5%
|
38.1%
|
4.8%
|
34.9%
|
42.0%
|
43.0%
|
41.8%
|
42.1%
|
41.8%
|
42.6%
|
39%
|
|
LOSS/PROFIT AFTER TAX
|
33.8
|
-20.8
|
-146.5
|
-38.5
|
79.6
|
83.6
|
76.9
|
56.9
|
57.5
|
58.9
|
237.3
|