Credit;PA
Wetherspoons has announced it is set to shut another 22 pubs this year as the pub chain battles high labour costs and rocketing food prices.
Spoons will offload more sites in a fire sale as a part of an overhaul of its estate, with 22 on the market in addition to the 28 already sold this year.
Earlier this year, Tim Martin warned of continued pressure on the hospitality sector from higher costs.
He cited “labour, energy and food costs” as being among the biggest issues impacting the company’s fortunes, echoing concerns elsewhere about the things weighing heavy on the sector.
Online, a number pubs are listed as for sale or under offer.
It is thought the following pubs are at risk of shutting, with some under offer, and others remaining available to buy:
Asparagus – Battersea
General Sir Redvers Buller – Crediton
Millers Well – East Ham
The Bankers Draft – Eltham
Hudson Bay – Forest Gate
Capitol – Forest Hill
The Saltoun Inn – Fraserburgh
The Percy Shaw – Halifax
Coronet – Holloway
The Alfred Herring – Palmers Green
The Cross Keys – Peebles
Foxley Hatch – Purley
The Butlers Bell – Stafford
The Widow Frost – Mansfield
A further eight pubs were said to be “available” which means they are up for sale so could be saved if a buyer is found.
These include:
Lord Arthur Lee – Fareham
Plough & Harrow – Hammersmith
Jolly Sailor – Hanham
World’s Inn – Romford
Sennockian – Sevenoaks
Former Tusk Nightclub & Waverly Tea Rooms – Watford
Wrong ‘Un – Bexleyheath
Moon on the Hill, Harrow
Here’s the list of the 28 pubs that have already shut for good:
The John Masefield, New Ferry
Angel, Islington
The Silkstone Inn, Barnsley
The Billiard Hall, West Bromwich
Admiral Sir Lucius Curtis, Southampton
The Colombia Press, Watford
The Malthouse, Willenhall
The John Masefield, New Ferry
Thomas Leaper, Derby
Cliftonville, Hove
Tollgate, Harringay
Last Post, Loughton
Harvest Moon, Orpington
Alexander Bain, Wick
Chapel an Gansblydhen, Bodmin
Moon on the Square, Basildon
Coal Orchard, Taunton
Running Horse, Airside Doncaster Airport
Wild Rose, Bootle
Edmund Halley, Lee Green
The Willow Grove, Southport
Postal Order, Worcester
North and South Wales Bank, Wrexham
The Sir John Stirling Maxwell, Glasgow
The Knight’s Templar, London
Christopher Creeke, Bournemouth
The Water House, Durham
The Worlds Inn, Romford
Last September, Wetherspoons said that 32 pubs were being put up for sale due to a “commercial decision”.
It said it was a “misinterpretation” to suggest the move was down to difficult trading conditions.
It said: “In fact, the disposals have raised relatively modest amounts (although every little helps) and almost all are related to circumstances … where there is another Wetherspoon pub nearby.”
Related: Wetherspoons boss says there’s no limit to how high the price of a pint could go
