It’s no secret that pubs are struggling at the moment, especially independent ones. But the one guy you’d think would be fine is ol’ Wetherspoons, with its nearly 900 pubs across the UK and Ireland.
But it looks like even Spoons isn’t thriving in the current climate. The chain has just announced it will be selling another seven of its pubs – bringing the total to 39 this year.
The location of those seven pubs hasn’t been revealed yet. Owner Tim Martin announced in July this year that the chain could be set to lose around £30 million in revenue this year, but it looks like the sales haven’t been as bad as predicted. A spokesperson said trading at the minute is ‘broadly’ in line with its expectations, though it had dipped in October.
And if your local does hit the market, don’t fret – the venues are going to stay as Wetherspoons for now, until someone buys them. And if no one does, they’re just going to stay as Wetherspoons, so you can still get your pink gin pitcher and chips ‘n’ gravy fix. Martin said that ’in the absence of further lockdowns or restrictions, the company remains cautiously optimistic about future prospects’.
The list of the 32 venues we do know are up for sale are as follows:
- Barnsley – Silkstone Inn
- Beaconsfield – Hope & Champion
- Bexleyheath – Wrong ‘Un
- Bournemouth – Christopher Creeke
- Cheltenham – Bank House
- Durham – Water House
- Halifax – Percy Shaw
- Hanham – Jolly Sailor
- Harrow – Moon on the Hill
- Hove – Cliftonville Inn
- London Battersea – Asparagus
- London East Ham – Miller’s Well
- London Eltham – Bankers Draft
- London Forest Gate – Hudson Bay
- London Forest Hill – Capitol
- London Hornsey – Toll Gate
- London Holborn – Penderel’s Oak
- London Islington – Angel
- London Palmers Green – Alfred Herring
- Loughborough – Moon & Bell
- Loughton – Last Post
- Mansfield – Widow Frost
- Middlesbrough – Resolution
- Purley – Foxley Hatch
- Redditch – Rising Sun
- Sevenoaks – Sennockian
- Southampton – Admiral Sir Lucius Curtis
- Stafford – Butler’s Bell
- Watford – Colombia Press
- West Bromwich – Billiard Hall
- Willenhall – Malthouse
- Wirral – John Masefield
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