Wetherspoons to close 17 pubs despite sales growth as 14 under offer amid downsizing exercise - full list

The closures come despite the company reporting nearly 8 per cent sales growth in its most recent trading update. So far this year, Wetherspoons has sold or surrendered the leases of 30 pubs, following 41 closures in 2022.

While the 14 pubs under offer are not guaranteed to be sold, they could remain open if deals fall through. The company’s chairman, Sir Tim Martin, has been steadily reducing the number of pubs in the chain, which now stands at 801, down from 950 a decade ago.

Wetherspoon confirmed that 26 pubs, from London to Liverpool, have already been sold or had their leases surrendered. However, not all of these locations have been listed by estate agents Savills and CBRE, who are handling the sales.

In a recent statement, Martin said: “The gradual recovery in sales and profits, following the pandemic, has continued in the current financial year. Total sales are, again, at record levels, with fewer pubs.”

Wetherspoons, known for its affordable beer and food, has kept prices low despite economic challenges. The chain has notably resisted raising the price of its £5.75 breakfast.

Despite the wave of closures, the company hasn’t ruled out future expansion, with plans to explore new locations in 130 towns and cities across the UK as inflation begins to ease. “People are happy to go out for a pint if you keep the price competitive. It’s not like buying a sofa,” Martin told The Guardian in March.

The company has stated that many of the recent closures are in locations where a second Wetherspoons pub is nearby, or in smaller and older venues. Approximately 71 per cent of Wetherspoons pubs are now freehold properties, up from 41 per cent in 2010, meaning the company owns the land outright.

If sales of the pubs don’t go through, the locations could either remain open as Wetherspoons or be repurposed and reopened under new management. The chain regularly reviews its estate, and some branches listed for sale could be taken off the market and continue operating.

The goal, the company said in its financial report in March, is to open 1,000 pubs. The report said: “In spite of a reduction in the overall number of pubs, sales have continued to increase – total sales are now about one-third higher than in 2015, when the number of pubs peaked, and sales per pub have increased by about 50% since then.”

On the market:

• Ivor Davies, Cardiff
• Market Cross, Holywell
• Pontlottyn, Abertillery

Under offer:

• Hain Line, St Ives
• Asparagus, SW London
• Wrong’un, SE London
• Gate House, Doncaster
• Jolly Sailor, Bristol,
• Mockbeggar Hall, Moreton
• Alfred Herring, N London
• Cross Keys, Peebles,
• Sir Norman Rae, Shipley
• White Hart, Todmorden
• Spa Lane Vaults, Chesterfield
• Lord Arthur Lee, Fareham
• Regent, Kirkby-in-Ashfield
• Sir Daniel Arms, Swindon

Already closed:

• 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
• 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 Widow Frost, Mansfield
• The Worlds Inn, Romford
• Hudson Bay, Forest Gate
• The Saltoun Inn, Fraserburgh
• The Bankers Draft, Eltham, London
• The Sir John Arderne, Newark
• The Capitol, Forest Hill
• Moon and Bell, Loughborough
• Nightjar, Ferndown
• General Sir Redvers Buller, Crediton
• The Rising Sun, Redditch
• The Butler’s Bell, Stafford
• Millers Well, East Ham
• The Coronet, London

Recently opened pubs include the Captain Flinders near Euston Station in London and the Scribbling Mill at the White Rose Shopping Centre in Leeds. The Lion and Unicorn also opened at Waterloo Station in early April.