Wetherspoon chairman accuses drunken pop stars of setting bad example

JD Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin has launched a scathing attack on drunken pop stars; easy-going parents - who he believes set a bad example to young people when it comes to alcohol - and private equity's involvement in the pub trade.

Speaking as the managed pub group announced its first half results, Martin acknowledged there was "rightly concern about a minority of people who mis-behave when drinking alcoholic products".

However he said he believed that a crackdown on young people drinking was a waste of taxpayers's money.

Resources would be better spent on tackling the anti-social behaviour prevalent among older age groups, he said, and enforcing the message that those who drank and used pubs should do so responsibly.

"The central problems concerning people who mis-behave when drinking are cultural ones, he said.

"This is demonstrated by examples of poor behaviour by a number of celebrities during the recent televised Brit Awards and by habitual drunken celebrations in the context of sporting events and other occasions, which then receive huge press coverage."

Parents, who used to drink before they were 18, are now "extremely collaborative" in helping their 16 or 17 year old children to do the same, Martin believed.

Martin also took a swipe at the growing involvement of private equity groups in the pub trade.

"Efforts are focused on boosting short term profits by heavy incentives for senior management combined with considerable capital expenditure on the pubs.

"The boost to profits is typically not sustainable, producing predictable results for future acquirers.

"The combination of equity and bank finance is potentially keeping unviable pubs open and so creates instability in the general UK pub market."