Wetherspoons boss says huge change in every UK pub was 'total waste of money' (2025)

JD Wetherspoon founder Tim Martin has revealed the 'biggest problem' he's faced in his pubs. Mr Martin describes himself as a "caveman" regarding atmospheres in his boozers

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Wetherspoon pub boss Tim Martin has declared atmosphere paramount in the pub experience. "If you do a survey and ask people why they go to pubs, the number one issue is atmosphere," he claimed while visiting one of his many establishments. People will say it's a wooly concept, but we all know what it is when we see it.

"[Pubs] have got to have a good atmosphere, more than price, more than variety of beers. It's an elusive thing to try and improve." Taking this matter extremely seriously, Martin devotes several days a week to incognito trips to Wetherspoon locations to assess the vibe on the sly.

He'll park half a mile from the pub to stay under the radar and enter without drawing attention to himself, ensuring he experiences the pub's genuine ambience.

Though sometimes confronted with the sight of uncleared tables laden with used glasses, Martin resists confronting staff directly, preferring to make mental notes to address later, reports the Express.

"I never give anyone a b*****king on pub calls when I go around - because what good does it do?" he reasoned. "But I'm constantly trying to monitor things that I think could be improved."

One particular gripe for Martin relates to lighting in pubs. Known for running music-free pubs without televisions or background noise, he considers getting the lighting just right to be crucial.

As someone who describes himself as a "caveman" regarding pub atmospheres, he particularly dislikes overly bright settings. Wetherspoon Mr Martin faced a challenge with the extensive menu printed in tiny font at his popular pub chain. His clever solution?

He amped up the lighting by adding heaps of spotlights to make sure patrons could easily read the menu, all without sacrificing the cosy vibe.

"I myself engineered a massive increase in the number of spotlights in our pubs over 25 years [because] customers were complaining they couldn't read the menu because the [lighting was] too dim," he shared. But as it turns out, Martin's bright idea may not have been as effective as hoped.

With people now turning to their backlit phones to peruse the menu, he conceded: "I think it's been a false move [because] people now normally look at the menu on their phone, [which] is backlit."

The spotlight saga became quite a headache as he admitted: "So one of the biggest problems we've had is trying to control the spotlights, which I myself put in at massive expense."

It might sound absurd that the influential chairman of one of Britain's most well-known brands is worrying about lighting.

But Martin is enthusiastic in his belief that his close attention to the smallest details is one of the reasons his chain has been so successful over the years.

At Wetherspoon headquarters, no area is too insignificant for improvement, whether it is the temperature of baked beans or which line of beer is not selling enough to warrant being sold in draft form.