[Closed] 8am in Wetherspoons

Been laughing away at this thread especially derek_starship’s post, really entertaining. Having never ventured inside a Wetherspoon I do feel I’m missing out so where’s best Dahn Saaaarf?

Try the 'spoons in Bath - right next to the cinema (I think you're outside Bath somewhere?)

“8am in Wetherspoons” would be an excellent opening line for an extra “2018 vintage” verse of Piano Man.

^ Very good.

It's 8am on a Thursday
The regular crowd shuffles in
Waiting for the Post Office to open
so they can cash their giro's in
They're nursing a pint pot of Carling
To while the hours away
While some bloke on a bike, who slept rough last night
Has Eggs Benedicte and bottomless cafe

So sing me a song I'm a Wetherspoons man
Red faces and brexit all round
But the beer is dead cheap, and it's warm for a sleep
And a bacon roll costs just two pound.

mattbe + 1

In the past I've used plenty of Londons 'spoons during the day as my unofficial site office. They provide a valuable social hub for some. Some of the 'spoons in London also seem to be quite tolerant of the local homeless people coming in for a warm and a drink. Due to the owners political stance I have stopped using them but on a local level I think they give much to their local community and many of the staff are nice thoughtful caring people.

Wow there’s some reet stuck up their own arse folk on this thread.

Just a bit, I'm reminded of that famous clip of John Cleese discussing 'The Life Of Brian' with some stuffy old-school Church Type. John is being fair, reasonable and open minded, when the Churchy wades in with something along the lines of "of course I haven't seen this 3rd rate clap trap, but I know it's terrible".

I'm more than a bit surprised by how many posters on STW who've never stepped foot in a Weatherspoons, who have taken the time to say how terrible it is and how they'll never go near one.

I’m more than a bit surprised by how many posters on STW who’ve never stepped foot in a Weatherspoons,

Aye, it's generally because they're talking pish.

Use my local one about twice a year for eggs benedict for breakfast as a treat. Is definitely the best eb around, all the local independents (including a French cafe where one of the waitresses likes to stand near you reeking of fags and coughing) don’t come anywhere near them taste wise

I’m staying with my brother at the moment, he lives in Newton Le Willows.

The local spoons is quite nice inside and not that busy.

Although I did overhear the waitress telling a couple they couldn’t have steak knives as people had been stealing them and using them in fights!

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2015/oct/09/has-wetherspoons-become-britains-canteen

Used to go in the one in Birmingham town centre all the time for a burger'n'pint before a gig.
They're like McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, etc. Not high quality but consistent so you know exactly what you are getting.

"Like Amy other chain of outlets you can’t generalise as there is too much in the hands of the management, staff and clientele."

The management, staff and clientele don't get to choose the decor, the drinks, the food, the prices, the opening hours, the (absence of) music...Perhaps why that's why every single one I've been in has been practically the same.

Don't get me wrong, there is a place for them and I've been to a few, but you can absolutely generalise about them because they're a chain run by a demanding control freak boss. They're about as varied as McDonaldses...

What variation do you want ? They sell beer and food.... it's a pub... .that's it isn't it ?

I live in a town with an inordinately high number of dodgy bars, almost all of which cater to a niche market in society.
The Wetherspoons in town is the only neutral territory where these varying factions ever mix.
It’s like the United Nations of boozers.

I don't really get the Spoons hatred either (apart from maybe the brexitty owner). I think this thread is amply demonstrating that its mainly just snobbery. Our local one is usually just full of old dears having a cheap meal and a couple of drinks and is a decent place to go for a pint and a read of the paper as there's no music

What I like about them, and you have to give them some credit for, is their sensitive restoration of old buildings. This is the one in Darwen. This building was in a right state. Literally had trees growing out of the roof. They completely renovated it, must have spent a fortune, and now its absolutely lovely. I really like the one in Keswick to, which is the old Police Station

Darwen:

Keswick:

My local one in Bury. The picture House:

It’s 8am on a Thursday
The regular crowd shuffles in
Waiting for the Post Office to open
so they can cash their giro’s in
They’re nursing a pint pot of Carling
To while the hours away
While some bloke on a bike, who slept rough last night
Has Eggs Benedicte and bottomless cafe

So sing me a song I’m a Wetherspoons man
Red faces and brexit all round
But the beer is dead cheap, and it’s warm for a sleep
And a bacon roll costs just two pound.

Come on. This needs some love?

 

It does. It is genius.

I too used to like a 'Spoons and admire the fact that they have preserved many old buildings. But what I can't stand is the owner. Similarly if Rees Mogg owned the best chippy in Prestwich or if Gove sold dirt cheap Airfix kits I wouldn't be tempted because they are ****s.

🙂 That's excellent.

Torn really, I like a decent 'spoons - cheap, convenient, the MacDonalds of pubs.
And back when decent beer was a novelty, they've always been a guarantee of a decent pint.

But, they do occasionally reek of despair (as do most pubs at sometime), the owner is an arsehole, and they all look the same.

Everywhere serves decent beer and edible food these days.
A lot of the more interesting town boozers have gone recently.

So no, I don't really bother anymore.

I'm confused by the ownership thing ?

Do people know who owns say Costa ? or Starbucks ? or Audi ? how about Whyte bikes ? or Specialized ? Or The Body Shop ?

Why would you research who owns what and where do you draw the line ? I don't know who owns Greene King for example, but would knowing that and if he was a wrong-un mean i never drink in a pub again ? Hmmmm.

I’m confused by the ownership thing ?

Do people know who owns say Costa ? or Starbucks ? or Audi ? how about Whyte bikes ? or Specialized ? Or The Body Shop ?

Why would you research who owns what and where do you draw the line ? I don’t know who owns Greene King for example, but would knowing that and if he was a wrong-un mean i never drink in a pub again ? Hmmmm.

Like most I suspect I don't go out of my way to find this stuff out but once you know something you can't unknow it and it does affect how you treat the business. There was that weather forecast site most here raved about years ago that stopped updating so frequently and it transpired the reason was the owner was serving time for child abuse. Can't say I felt inclined to use it after that. Round here there is a nursery (of the plant rather than the human variety) that when the BNP membership information was leaked turned out to be run by a paid up member of the party. Never went there again either.

Tim Martin has been not only a prominent Brexit supporter and donator but also used his ownership of the company as a vehicle for campaigning - half a million pro brexit beer mats in his pubs for example. Pro brexit posters in the bars and toilets. If you think brexit is a bag of shite it's really not hard to put weatherspoons on your list of companies not to give your money to.

Everywhere serves decent beer and edible food these days.

Trust me, you can still find places that don't..............

Oh, and sorry - I started the Piano Man thing, but I have no artistic talent whatsoever, so the full verse above is genius - bravo!

For posterity:

It’s 8am on a Thursday
The regular crowd shuffles in
Waiting for the Post Office to open
so they can cash their giro’s in
They’re nursing a pint pot of Carling
To while the hours away
While some bloke on a bike, who slept rough last night
Has Eggs Benedicte and bottomless cafe

So sing me a song I’m a Wetherspoons man
Red faces and brexit all round
But the beer is dead cheap, and it’s warm for a sleep
And a bacon roll costs just two pound.

Why would you research who owns what and where do you draw the line ?

In this case he is rather prominent and also pushes his political views in his pubs. So since he chooses to make those pubs political I choose not to drink there.
To use the whyte example if the bike was plastered in brexit propaganda I probably wouldnt have got one.

Second verse.

For those who don’t know the owner
Is a chap named Tim Martin
He’s a big fan of Brexit
Something I don’t believe in
He uses his business to promote it
On posters or on a beer mat
For that reason I won’t give him my money
‘cause I think he’s a massive ****

I guess i'm a snob then, my only inside experience of a 'Spoons was a couple of pages ago having breakfast with some work colleagues.

The local one, seems to attract the town degenerates in an evening, it looks awful.

Thankfully there is a small, privately owned pub/brewery a short walk away, which sells nice beer at cheap prices & does great food & none of the attitude.

Happy to be a snob if it means not going in a dive 🙂

Went to a Brewers Fayre the other day. It was far grimmer than any Wetherspoon i have been in for the past decade, but looks more family friendly on the outside, i guess.

The Wetherspoons in Peterborough and Cambridge aren't exactly great - the typical sticky carpet, dark offerings with rowdy teens on a Friday/Sat night doing the whole 'you spill my pint?' routine.

But, there is a really good one in Oakham and also one in Stamford. They are a good place for a cheap family meal and they serve a massive range of drinks.

They completely renovated it, must have spent a fortune, and now its absolutely...

...stark, cold, soulless and much the same as all the 'spoons I've seen. Fair enough if veneer and chintz is your (one's) thing, that doesn't bother me but when 'spoons are selling beer cheaper than actual pubs can buy it, we have a problem. Unless you think monopolies are a good thing?

Tim Martin has been not only a prominent Brexit supporter and donator but also used his ownership of the company as a vehicle for campaigning – half a million pro brexit beer mats in his pubs for example. Pro brexit posters in the bars and toilets. If you think brexit is a bag of shite it’s really not hard to put weatherspoons on your list of companies not to give your money to.

+1

Not that I go into pubs, but if I did, I'd avoid spoons like the plague.

There's lad losing bad at Sky Poker, regret shines up at the meek
So he drinks up his Stella and boasts to some fella 'bout how much he's up every week.

And then there's the gravy that smells of the Navy and has done for 23 years...

…but for five ninety five on your pudding or pies
You’ll eat ‘til it comes out your ears.

🙂

It’s 8am on a Thursday
The regular crowd shuffles in
Waiting for the Post Office to open
so they can cash their giro’s in
They’re nursing a pint pot of Carling
To while the hours away
While some bloke on a bike, who slept rough last night
Has Eggs Benedicte and bottomless café

So sing me a song I’m a Wetherspoons man
Red faces and brexit all round
But the beer is dead cheap, and it’s warm for a sleep
And a bacon roll costs just two pound.

Music by Billy Joel
Lyrics by Harry-Jon V Spanner

I’m confused by the ownership thing ?

Do people know who owns say Costa ? or Starbucks ? or Audi ? how about Whyte bikes ? or Specialized ? Or The Body Shop ?

I refer you to my post on page 2. The pubs are dripping with pro-brexit propaganda, you can discover JDW's political leanings quite readily simply by going into one.

Rather like STW's political leanings can be deduced just by entering the forum.

But I'm not coming round to yours to pay you for a drink and a meal whist you keep chipping in spouting bollocks. 🙂

Life's too short to deal with people who make your skin itch.

but when ‘spoons are selling beer cheaper than actual pubs can buy it, we have a problem. Unless you think monopolies are a good thing?

Again... thats hardly Weatherspoons fault. Theres the economies of scale, obviously. But mainly, thats the fault of the model of pub ownership in this country where breweries happily absolutely fleece their tied tennets/landlordds by forcing them to pay prices way above market rate for beer their contractually obliged to buy.

If you want to have a go at someone, have a go at a government that refuses to regulate against this practice and the operation of what are effectively cartels of large brewers.

I'm not defending Weatherspoons. I go in the places once every blue moon (in true STW fashion I drink in my local independent microbrewery, which is bloody brilliant), but blaming Weatherspoons for the state of the pub sector is pretty wide of the mark.

In fact, you could argue that Mr Brexit has done us all a favour by breaking the stranglehold of the tied tennent/landlord business model that artificially inflates prices to us all

i had no view at all when i started reading the thread, but think its now binners +1.

I was in one of the MNPR favourite haunts last week. Pint and a Diet Coke - £7.20! Not even a bottled Coke, just a syrup and soda job out of a squirty gun.

In a 'Spoons youd get the drinks, a leg over and a pie for that. Although I can't vouch for the quality of the pie. Still won't drink there though.

thats hardly Weatherspoons fault.

I'm reasonably sure that Wetherspoon's bar prices are set by Wetherspoon's. They can choose to price at a level to be competitive or price to drive out and crush the competition, can they not?

image fail

Not even a bottled Coke, just a syrup and soda job out of a squirty gun.

It's probably a good earner for small pubs.

Back when I was a student, I worked in a bowling alley. Aside from the lanes, the biggest profit margin in the building by a country mile was the Wundergun soft drinks. A large drink that sold for like three quid back in 1991 cost less per serving to buy in than the little ketchup pots everyone expected for free.

I’m reasonably sure that Wetherspoon’s bar prices are set by Wetherspoon’s. They can choose to price at a level to be competitive or price to drive out and crush the competition, can they not?

That's not really the point. Weatherspoons don't set the artificially inflated prices the major brewers force their tennents and landlords to pay for their beer. They sell at lower prices because they use a different business model which allows them to sell beer lots cheaper, and are happy to do so at lower margins.

Much as you may dislike him (I do too) you have to have a certain respect for the fact that he's built a very successfull business, from nothing, by doing things very differently from the competition, with a business model that doesn't rely on exploiting what is essentially a cartel to rip off the people both selling and buying your beer. I'd say that overall prices are lowwer in pubs across the board than they would be if Weathspoons wasn't around. Capitalism, innit?

On Binners, point, Government still at it - witness the delays the Pubs Code Adjudicator (PCA) have made on all the Market Rent Only applications made by pubs, and the fact that CAMRA took them (PCA) to the ICO to get information on their working (or lack of). Think there’s another story on this in yesterday’s Private Eye.

Think there’s another story on this in yesterday’s Private Eye.

Yup. Landlord taking one of the pubcos to court about them dragging out the MRO process as long as possible. He is trying to get the lower rent backdated.
Even if wetherspoons charged the same and the punco owned pubs got more custom all that would happen is their rent would get upped by the pubcos and the landlords would still be in a shit place.

My local micro brewery sells to Weatherspoons.

If you're brewing cask ale in small batches and selling to independents there can be a lot of wastage as each independent only buys a few casks. Any left over will quickly go off. He said Wetherspoons would give him a fair price for the entire remainder of a batch as they were confident they could sell all of it quickly.

Thats bang on Dissonance. Running a pub (I've had mates who have done in the past, and good mates who still do) is the only job where if you make your boss - the brewery - more money through your successful management, you then get punished by them for it with increased rent and beer prices

Frankly its an absolutely scandalous business model! Totally immoral and exploitative. Its flagrant profiteering by what is effectively a cartel.

So if Weatherspoons are doing something different and taking these lot on, and winning (which means cheaper eating and drinking for everyone), I can't see why people have a huge problem with them (Bexit propoganda notwithstanding, obvs)

In a perfect world we'd all have a nice independent micropub that did great beer and food at easonable prices as our local. But in the absense of that unrealistic proposition I'd say the spoons model is certainly the lesser of two evils

That’s not really the point. Weatherspoons don’t set the artificially inflated prices the major brewers force their tennents and landlords to pay for their beer. They sell at lower prices because they use a different business model which allows them to sell beer lots cheaper, and are happy to do so at lower margins.

JDW doesn't set the prices of other places, of course, and if it's driven down prices elsewhere then that's a good thing for the consumer. Historically I've always kinda liked Wetherspoon's, they're pretty soulless places but you can be reasonably assured of a decent pint at a sensible price without suddenly discovering halfway through that it's karaoke night.

My point though is just because you can do something, does it mean you should? Say the going rate for a pint in a given area is £4 and JDW can afford to sell it at a profit for £2. If they price a pint at £3.90 then that's a competitive price and it maximises their profits; if they price it at £2 then the profit margin is much lower but it will probably destroy the competition. Arguably the latter may be better business for JDW long-term, but at what cost to everyone else?

Real drinkers drink at the station on their way into the office....

He said Wetherspoons would give him a fair price for the entire remainder of a batch as they were confident they could sell all of it quickly.

That's not the first time I've heard this / similar stories. Part of the reason they can keep prices low is by buying short-life beer that no-one else wants to buy.

but at what cost to everyone else?

£2 a pint?

If the breweries weren't blatently profiteering through their dodgy business practices all pubs would be able to sell their beer much closer to Weathspoons prices.

Weatherspoons aren't destroying the competition, the breweries are. If they didn't have Weatherspoons as competition, do you think their prices would be higher or lower?

It does seem a bit daft and self-defeating to me, but they seem happy to carry on doing it