Calling Tim Martin Of Wetherspoon, That Ain’t No Banksie On Your Window

What is becoming apparent, is that COVID-19 will either accelerate the trends we’ve been predicting for some time, or it will fundamentally alter the direction of travel for retail. But for the bosses of some retail businesses, they appear to be creating their very own new normal.

Psychologists tell us that we have our experiencing self and our remembering self. The experiencing self is the fast living in the moment mode of thinking, while the remembering self is the slow story telling mode of thinking. So how we feel about a brand largely depends upon our memory of the experience provided, not what actually happened.

So, if it is true that how we feel about a brand largely depends on our experience of it, why are so many acting as if this is something out of the wild west?

The list of those treating their staff as mere commodities in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic is sadly growing. With people scared, worried and anxious like never before, the government announced an unprecedented package of financial support at 5pm last Friday. This included the job protection scheme which would pay 80% of people’s salary up to £2,500 per month.

That was at 5pm. At 3.30pm the same day, I was stood outside Topshop at Oxford Circus. The doors were open although trade was hardly brisk. At 4pm the same day, Arcadia closed all its stores across the country, including Topshop, making their staff redundant.

Sports Direct decided on a slightly different strategy, lobbying the government that they stocked essential items so that their stores should remain open. Because of course, at times like this, we all need a new trampoline. However, this was swiftly quashed as it rightly should have been, but no matter, Sports Direct were quick to hike the prices of their most popular items online.

And then we get to JD Wetherspoon.

One has to wonder at the actions of their chairman in this exceptional time of crisis. The video of Tim Martin telling his loyal workforce that not only would they not be paid but they can trot off to get a job in a supermarket, has gone viral.

If you’re offered a job at a supermarket and you think it’s a good idea, do it

The backlash was both swift and decisive and the prospect of facing a Business Select Committee to explain his actions was clearly enough to persuade him that he’d just made a rather monumental error of judgement.

But after backing down from one conflict, it merely made room for the next, this time involving suppliers who are now not being paid. Those same suppliers no doubt, that JD Wetherspoon will rely on once their pubs reopen. Trouble is, they, like their customers, just might not turn up.

Doing The Right Thing

There is no doubt that in times of crisis, both the good and the bad in both individuals and companies alike, come to the surface. And the intriguing thing about all of this, are the growing number of company bosses who are making these spectacular errors of judgement.

Is this fuelled by greed? Insensitivity? Perhaps the answer lies in the reason why they became bosses of large organisations in the first place. Because just that fact marks them out as being different from you or I.

Self-centred, egotistical, driven – all these and more apply. After all they have spent years making personal sacrifices, taking risks, working all hours. But then one could argue that so have the majority of their workforce, so why is it so different for them?

Ultimately, the buck stops at their door. They are solely responsible for the success or failure of the organisation. And with that brings a laser like focus on such as share price, shareholder value and so forth. In some cases, to the detriment of almost everything else.

I’m not arguing for, or excusing them, because to that list could also be added greedy, cynical, uncaring and narcissistic, I’m merely offering it up as a possible explanation for the somewhat strange behaviour we are currently witnessing. A case in point, the groveling apology from Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley, presumably after either his PR or lawyer took him to one side and had a quiet word.

But people have a tendency to have long memories in times like this. When we really need help and support and to see our corporations acting in a responsible manner and then fall short, we tend to vote with our feet.

For the bosses of some businesses, this lockdown is going to feel like a very long wait.