Exclusive – Sir Tim Martin – my ambition is to double JD Wetherspoon revenue to £4bn in ten years: JD Wetherspoon chairman Sir Tim Martin has told Propel he is aiming for the company to double its sales to £4bn in the next ten years after passing the £2bn mark for the first time. Sir Tim said he believes the business can help itself hit that target by franchising the brand – including on the UK high street and abroad – and believes a Wetherspoon franchise could double the revenue of an existing independent operator. Speaking following the company’s full-year results, Sir Tim said: “I thought at the point when we started out in the 1970s, and the pub market was dominated by the big brewers that there was room for an independent company that was free-of-tie and could do things a bit differently. Therefore, I thought it might be possible to build something that could get to that mark [£2bn of sales], but didn’t know we could do it. My ambition now is to get to £4bn in ten years, although I think that might be more difficult than getting to £2bn in 45 years. It makes me think of the 1960s song lyric: ‘It’s a tall order for a short guy, but I am gonna try’.” Sir Tim said he believes the company’s success has been down to doing “hundreds of small initiatives” such as improving its real ale offer and achieving five stars at its pubs for the “Scores on the Doors” scheme. He added: “Only four of our pubs don’t have that five-star rating. All of our pubs have passed their Guinness accreditation and we’ve got 255 pubs in the Good Pub Guide, although we would like more.” In terms of the products that are driving the sales performance, Sir Tim said the chicken shawarma wrap is among its best-sellers as it looks to tap more into the street food trend. He added vodka was continuing to sell well. Sir Tim expects to open between five and ten pubs in the current financial year while between five and ten major developments to create additional space at its pubs are on the cards. Having recently opened in Marlow in Buckinghamshire, Wetherspoon is set to open sites in Kenilworth in Warwickshire and Wetherby in West Yorkshire. Sir Tim said its debut holiday park pub, which opened in partnership with Haven – at Primrose Valley holiday park in Filey, North Yorkshire – was performing well and it was planning “a couple more”. He added: “We’ve got partnerships with two universities and we’d like to do more of those. We’ve also got the opportunity with holiday parks and I’m open to other suggestions. There’s certainly the possibility of a franchised Wetherspoon pub on the high street or abroad and because of the resources we have, we would double the revenue of an existing operator. We are possibly the most successful British pub brand with a broad range of customers so we have that appeal. I’ve always admired how Starbucks has managed to grow globally.” Sir Tim again stressed the need for the industry to get tax parity with supermarkets and said it has to be the number ask in the Budget later this month. He added: “But my fear is the government will do something else and think it’s helping us and just make things worse.” Propel produces the Propel UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database, which is an exhaustive guide to the companies offering a food and beverage franchise in the UK and is available exclusively to Premium subscribers. The database is updated every two months, and the next version will be sent on Wednesday (9 October) and feature 270 businesses. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Propel Premium for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or a supplier. The single subscription rate is £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com to upgrade your subscription.

Mark Loughborough steps down as Young’s retail director: Mark Loughborough has stepped down as retail director at Young’s. Loughborough was appointed to the board upon being promoted to retail director in September 2022, a role in which he was responsible for the group’s managed operations, including food development. He joined the company as operations manager in February 2011 before being promoted to director of operations in 2017 and senior director of operations in 2021. Previous to that, he was regional sales manager at PizzaExpress for seven years and operations manager at Tragus Group Holdings for four years. “Following a review of both the composition of the board and the operational requirements of the business, the company announces that the directors of operations will now report directly into Simon Dodd, chief executive,” a statement from Young’s said. “As a result, Mark Loughborough will step down as retail director and an executive director of the company with immediate effect.” Dodd added: “On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Mark for the significant contribution he has made during his time with the company. We wish him well for the future.”