JD Wetherspoon announces SEVEN more pubs will be sold off: Boozers in London, Scotland, Devon and Derby will shutter – taking total number of closures across the UK to 39
- Pub chain JD Wetherspoon will sell another seven venues across the UK
- This comes weeks after announcement of sale of 32 pubs across the country
- Regulars in Devon pub have said they’re ‘absolutely horrified’ by the news
Pub chain JD Wetherspoon has put another seven pubs up for sale just weeks after announcing the sale of 32 pubs across the country.
The pubs now facing closure are the Coronet in Holloway, Cross Keys in Peebles, General Sir Redvers Buller in Crediton, Lord Arthur Lee in Fareham, Plough & Harrow in Hammersmith, Saltoun Inn in Fraserburgh and the Thomas Leaper in Derby.
The pubs will be open as Wetherspoon until they are sold, a spokesperson confirmed today.
The Coronet in Holloway is one of the pubs which will be put up for sale. Toby Hall, Senior Director at CBRE said the pubs would have ‘broad appeal’ to general buyers
The pub chain owns more than 800 pubs and hotels across the UK and Ireland. It said it had sold five venues and opened one in the past 14 weeks, generating £1.9million
The General Sir Redvers Buller is the first Devon pub to face closure as Exeter-based businessman Tim Martin says he is ‘cautiously optimistic’ about the future.
But regular customers at the pub say they are ‘absolutely horrified’ by the news.
One customer said that the pub, which is based on Crediton High Street and is named after Victoria Cross recipient Redvers Buller, was ‘a good asset’.
Another regular said it would be ‘a bad thing’ if Spoons closed.
‘Every time I’ve come in here, it’s always been very busy,’ he said. ‘He’s not a silly man, Tim Martin.
‘But if I was Tim Martin, I would keep the pub as it is and convert the upstairs into flats that will cover the costs of the pub.’
A spokesperson for JD Wetherspoon confirmed that the seven properties will remain open as Wetherspoon until they are sold.
Savills and CBRE have been appointed to manage the sale of the seven venues, which include five freehold and two leasehold units.
Senior Director at CBRE Toby Hall said the added pubs would be appealing to buyers.
‘These additional properties are all substantial, well-located pubs which are fitted to a high standard. Most of the properties are coming to the market for the first time in many years which should give them a broad appeal to both local and national buyers.’
This is in addition to the 32 pubs that were put on the market at the end of September, including venues in Battersea and Islington.
JD Wetherspoon announced the sale of 32 pub across the UK in September. It has announced another seven pubs will be listed for sale as the chain struggles with rising costs
In a recent update to investors, the pub chain confirmed that it has opened one pub and sold five in the past 14 weeks, earning £1.9million.
But the company warned that costs are increasing, despite like-for-like sales being up 9.6% compared to this time last year.
Tim Martin raised prices of pints in the pub chain by 10p in May and 20p in London.
Wetherspoon has more than 800 pubs an hotels across the UK and Ireland.
The company said trading for the most recent period was closer to its expectations but admitted that October had been a slow month.