Wetherspoonsboss Tim Martin has shared the reason behind the popular pub chain’s ban on dogs and music.
The 69-year old entrepreneur founded the chain in 1979 before growing it to astronomical levels with approximately 800 pubs nationwide.
Speaking to Sky News, Mr Martin revealed the reason behind the banning of two things commonly seen in other pubs across the country.
He said: “At pub number one I had a dog, a very nice Doberman Pinscher, but he was very frightened of other dogs and barked like hell whenever another dog came in.
“It’s also a divisive issue. Some people like them in big pubs like ours, but with lots of children at half term like at the moment, it doesn’t work very well.”
The company banned dogs shortly after its foundation. Despite allowing several exceptions over the years, the chain introduced a blanket ban in 2018.
Speaking at the time spokesperson Eddie Gershon said: “Even well behaved dogs can be unpredictable, every dog owner thinks their dog is perfect.
“We welcome a lot of children and families and younger children in particular can be unpredictable around dogs and many are scared of dogs.
“We serve a lot of food. Unfortunately not all owners are diligent over cleaning up dog mess.”
The chain is also unusual to many of its competitors as it doesn’t play music in any of its sites, although seemingly it has done little to put punters off, with the chain posting pre-tax profits of £73.9 million in October last year.
Mr Martin said: “I don’t hate music, I love it actually. But it’s quite divisive.
“In the first pub we had music and I’d go to the loo and come back and The Strangers were playing at top volume so I thought in the end, with a lot of people, you don’t need music.
“You can choose your own when you go home, as I do myself.”
In a series of revelations, the multi-millionaire also shared the story behind the brand’s name as well as the secret behind their famous low prices.
He added: “It was a teacher who couldn’t control the class, a nice man, and in the first pub I couldn’t control the customers or the staff, no one did what I would say, so I sympathised with the teacher.”
