Wetherspoons has seen highs and lows. Its bars are a mainstay of many UK towns, helped by its reputation for low-priced drink and food. Unencumbered by the heavy debts that weighed on many rivals, its annualised 14 per cent total return to shareholders in the 15 years up to the pandemic soared above rivals. On the same basis Young’s, its closest listed peer, returned 9 per cent a year. But since January 2020, Wetherspoons shareholders have fared worse than those of Young’s, Mitchells & Butlers, Marston’s and the FTSE 250.