Wetherspoons to close pubs across UK with CEO blaming ‘people drinking at home’

Wetherspoons has announced a number of closures of its low budget pubs across the UK and is looking to sell more off.

Low-cost pub chain JD Wetherspoon, owned by Tim Martin, has announced plans to close 11 of its pubs due to spiralling costs and are putting 35 more up for sale. The moves comes after the high street chain suffered a huge £30m loss and has described the plans as a ‘commercial decision’.

Chairman Mr Martin has said the closures are down to people opting to ‘drink at home’, especially after the Covid lockdowns.

The hospitality chain said like-for-like sales surged by nearly 18% over the last three months of 2022, when compared with the same period in 2021. However, sales still remained 2% lower than the equivalent pre-pandemic period in 2019.

Mr Martin, told the PA News Agency: “The aftermath of the pandemic and lockdown restrictions have been far more difficult than anyone thought.

“That is the picture for the whole pub and restaurant industry. People thought that after lockdown there would be a boom in people suffering from cabin fever but, instead, it has almost been the opposite situation as people have got in the habit of staying in.

“That’s the big thing that means sales are down on 2019. Things are improving now but it’s slow.”

Is your Wetherspoons local at risk of closure? Here’s the full list of pubs which have been sold and are up for sale.

Pubs which have been sold:

• 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

Pubs still up for sale:

• The Butlers Bell, Stafford
• Worlds Inn, Romford
• Silkstone Inn, Barnsley
• Wrong ‘Un, Bexleyheath
• The Percy Shaw, Halifax
• Jolly Sailor, Hanham
• The Alfred Herring, Palmers Green
• The Moon & Bell, Loughborough
• The Widow Frost, Mansfield
• Resolution, Middlesbrough
• Foxley Hatch, Purley
• The Rising Sun, Redditch
• Sennockian, Sevenoaks
• Admiral Sir Lucius Curtis, Southampton
• The Colombia Press, Watford
• The Malthouse, Willenhall
• The John Masefield, New Ferry
• The Crosse Keys, Peebles
• Lord Arthur Lee, Fareham
• The Saltoun Inn, Fraserburgh
• General Sir Redvers Buller, Crediton
• Plough & Harrow, Hammersmith
• Thomas Leaper, Derby
• Cliftonville, Hove
• Tollgate, Turnpike Lane
• Asparagus, Battersea
• Millers Well, East Ham
• Hudson Bay, Forest Gate
• Angel, Islington
• The Billiard Hall, West Bromwich
• Capitol, Forest Hill
• The Bankers Draft, Eltham
• Moon on the Hill, Harrow
• The Bank House, Cheltenham
• Last Post, Loughton