The Wetherspoon Founder Who Campaigned for Brexit Has Lost £18.8 Million

Plenty of Brits were left feeling sore after their country voted to leave the European Union two weeks ago. Some turned to the oracle of Google to soothe their anxieties about what leaving actually meant, producers worried over preserving the sanctity of Wensleydale cheese, and plans were put in place for a Remainers-only dating app.

But Tim Martin, the founder of British pub chain Wetherspoon who made his pro-Brexit views loud and clear before the referendum, is feeling the Brexit burn more than others. To the tune of £18.8 million, in fact.

In June, Martin launched a campaign in his 920 countrywide Wetherspoons pubs, distributing 700,000 beer mats emblazoned with pro-Brexit messages (a spokesperson for Wetherspoon would not disclose to MUNCHIES exactly how much was spent on the beer mats, but said that it was less than £10,000), as well as making a personal donation of £212,000 to the Leave campaign in May.

While Martin may have hoped to be popping the moderately priced Prosecco by now, it was announced yesterday that the value of his 30 percent stake in Wetherspoons had fallen by £18.8 million since the referendum results.

Maybe make that a large glass of the house white instead.

Having campaigned so publicly for Britain to take what many see as a damaging decision to leave the EU, Martin is now keeping suspiciously quiet about the whole thing. Before the referendum, the official Wetherspoons website featured an "EU Debate" section with articles on the Brexit beer mats and Martin's "Brexit Pub Tour."

Now, these pages redirect to a comparatively subdued statement from Martin, reinforcing his pro-Brexit stance but calling for a period of calm. It reads: "The referendum result will enhance freedom and security […] Anxiety about the economic effects of independence during the campaign was misplaced […] On a practical level, from my experience of running a business, the key factor now is to avoid the appearance and the reality to 'do a deal' with the EU."

MUNCHIES reached out to Wetherspoons for a comment as to why the pro-Brexit web pages had been taken down. A spokesperson for the company said that there are "no conspiracy theories about the Brexit articles. Once the referendum was over, we didn't think people would wish to read them any more."

The spokesperson continued to reinforce the fact that share prices are likely to be volatile in periods of political upheaval, which is true. It's also worth noting that Martin's shares still stand at around £239 million, so that £18 million isn't such a bad hit to his finances, which may recover as the markets stable. The knock-on effect for pub workers' rights and the price of VAT passed on to consumers, however, is still unclear.

As for the rest of us, perhaps it's best to go to the Winchester, have a nice cold pint, and wait for this all to blow over. At least we won't be harassed by our beer mats anymore.