JD Wetherspoon founder and boss Tim Martin says that his ‘surprise’ knighthood is recognition for everyone who works and drinks in his 800-plus pubs across the UK.
The 68-year-old outspoken Brexiteer was knighted in the New Year honours in recognition of his ‘services to hospitality and culture’ through ‘Spoons’, the first of which opened in December 1979.
Pub guru Sir Tim said the nomination had come ‘out of the blue’ and that it was recognition of the ‘team effort’ by all of his staff, adding: ‘I’m just the lucky recipient.’
However, the news also prompted jokes across social media from pub-goers – with one comparing his eventual journey to Buckingham Palace to the legendarily long trapises to the toilets in many of his taverns.
Sir Tim was a vocal supporter of Brexit during the 2016 European Union referendum, and backed Boris Johnson in the 2019 Conservative leadership contest.
Sir Tim Martin, as he will now be known, has been given a knighthood in this year’s New Year Honours list
Sir Tim is an ardent Brexiteer and backed Boris Johnson’s bid to become Conservative leader in 2019
There are more than 800 Wetherspoon pubs and hotels across the UK, and the company employs over 43,000 people
Speaking to the PA news agency, he said: ‘It had never been expected, so it came out the blue.
‘I always think that, in the pub world, it is a team effort – even if you’ve just got one pub there are many people involved.
‘I think it’s the Wetherspoon colleagues and customers who are getting the award really, that’s the way I look at it. I’m just the lucky recipient.’
However, social media jokesters have poked fun at his new appointment, referring to the most famous – and infamous – hallmarks of his multitude of pubs.
One user on X, formerly Twitter, said: ‘Tim Martin should feel really at home when he goes to the palace for his knighthood. They also make people take six flights of stairs to get to the toilet.’
The Have I Got News For You account, run by the BBC show’s writers, added: ‘He won’t be going to collect it – it’ll be delivered straight to his table via the app.’
Another user joked: ‘Tim Martin of Wetherspoons is getting a knighthood for services to sticky carpets,’ while a fourth said: ‘By the time I reached one of his loos I’d give anyone a knighthood.’
Born in Norwich, Sir Tim built up the pub group after buying his first venue in Muswell Hill, London, in 1979, originally naming it Martin’s Free House.
He then rebranded it JD Wetherspoon – JD after Boss Hogg, the villainous commissioner in the Dukes of Hazzard, and Wetherspoon after a teacher in New Zealand that taught him as a boy.
It floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1992 and now employs over 43,000 people across the UK.
Last month, the business revealed sales jumped by almost a tenth in its latest quarter as its value-focused food and drink drew in punters facing tighter budgets due to the cost of living crisis, but it has also put a number of pubs up for sale in recent years.
Sir Tim, who trained as a lawyer, added: ‘If I had been any good at the law, which I wasn’t, then I probably would have stuck at that… so it’s quite lucky I wasn’t.’
He said Wetherspoon owes its success to four key elements; the staff, the design of the pubs, not playing ‘canned music’, and sticking to selling real ale.
Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch is said to have pushed for his nomination behind the scenes, arguing that Brexit-supporting entrepreneurs should not be overlooked.
Sir Tim was given his knighthood in this year’s New Year Honours in recognition of his services to ‘hospitality and culture’
Mr Martin said he hoped his knighthood was in recognition of his business acumen rather than because of his political views
Jokers on social media poked fun at Sir Tim’s appointment, referring to the most famous – and infamous – hallmarks of his pubs
But Sir Tim said of his political leanings: ‘Everyone had a vote, everyone had a view, and I suppose I did more campaigning than most.
‘I’d like to think that (the knighthood) is not for my rarely disclosed political views – I hope it is for what it says on the tin.’
He added: ‘I think the most important thing for the future of the world is that democracy takes root everywhere. I’ve always made that argument.’
A commendation of his award, published by the Cabinet Office alongside the full list of honours last night, said Mr Martin had built an ’empire’ of over 800 pubs.
It recognised what it said were his commitments to making pubs accessible and inclusive, with particular regard given to his support for visually impaired customers and work placements for those with learning difficulties.
It added that Mr Martin had a penchant for repurposing high street buildings, such as banks and theatres, ‘helping retain (their) unique architectural identity and culture’ and supports training staff into managers from within the company.
The pub boss was also a significant critic of Government shutdowns of hospitality firms, and other businesses, during the coronavirus pandemic through lockdown measures.
This saw him accuse former Prime Minister Boris Johnson of ‘hypocrisy’ during the Partygate scandal, arguing that the situation could have been avoided had pubs been allowed to remain open.
Sir Tim said the ‘financial legacy’ of Covid has been inflation, which has pushed up costs for business.
He added: ‘Most pubs have done very well to get sales back to where they were, but they haven’t quite managed to get profits back.
‘So the industry is hopeful that over the next year or two, it can get profits back to where they were.’
He courted controversy in the early days of lockdown when it was suggested that Wetherspoons staff would not be paid until the Government’s furlough scheme was established.
He also issued a video message to staff in which he told them to find jobs elsewhere, such as at Tesco, while waiting for details of the scheme to be finalised.