Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin takes swipe at ‘slow learners’ The Independent after correction
Sir Tim Martin has taken a swipe at ‘slow learners’ at The Independent newspaper amid a spat over misleading quotes in an unusual stock market update.
The outspoken boss of Wetherspoon blasted the newspaper this morning after it made reference to a statement it was previously forced to correct, triggering the newspaper’s fifth correction to the story.
Back in 2020, it published an article which said Martin suggested his 40,000 staff should go to work at Tesco because of job uncertainty during the pandemic.
Following push back from the pub chain’s legal team the paper was asked to change this to reflect that Martin would understand if his staff would want to take a role at the supermarket.
During the pandemic, many pubs were forced to cease trading, leaving staff out of work. But supermarkets remained open because they were deemed ‘essential’.
However, in December, the media outlet made reference to the same quote again, leading Sir Tim to vocalise his grievances.
He said today: “In 2020, the Independent newspaper made a number of false claims about Wetherspoon which it corrected, following representations from Wetherspoon’s legal department.
“Unfortunately, apparently unaware of the previous corrections, the Independent repeated the same false allegations in December 2023.”
He added: “We are pleased that the Independent has now published a fifth correction. We are glad to be able to help slow learners at the Independent.”
City A.M has contacted The Independent for a comment.