Boss Tim Martin scoops up £7m Wetherspoons shares

The outspoken boss of Wetherspoons has scooped up nearly £7 million of shares in the chain as it mounts a campaign for tax cuts in the hospitality sector.

Chairman Tim Martin, who founded the group in 1979 and remains its largest investor, bought almost a million shares in the FTSE 250 company at the start of September at £7 each. 

The purchase raised his stake to 24.65 per cent. Martin declined to comment on the reason behind the investment. It comes as the chain prepares to slash its prices for a day on Thursday.

The so-called ‘tax equality day’ will see food and drink prices at Wetherspoons pubs cut by 7.5 per cent to highlight what Martin calls the ‘vast disparity’ between the 20 per cent VAT levied on pubs and restaurants and the zero-rated groceries on sale at supermarkets.

Martin, an ardent Brexiteer, has said the hospitality sector effectively subsidises supermarkets and wants the Chancellor to equalise the levies to encourage people to visit pubs more often.