The list of Wetherspoon pubs that will be closing their doors for good has been revealed, with 11 already being sold off.
Alongside those already sold, there’s 35 pubs still up for sale, all of which will remain open and trading as usual until they’re bought.
The pubs set to close are in numerous cities across the UK, including several in London and others in Southampton, Derby and Middlesbrough.
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The closures were announced last year, with a Wetherspoon spokesperson telling LADbible: “On occasion, Wetherspoon does put some of its pubs up for sale. This is a commercial decision.
‘We understand that customers and staff will be disappointed with it. The pubs will continue to operate as Wetherspoon outlets until they are sold.”
Back in October, Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin had faced a ‘momentous challenge’ on its hands to tempt customers back after lockdown.
He suggested that many pub-goers had seen the cheaper booze on offer in supermarkets and may no longer going out to the pub - even that offers Curry Club.
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Martin said: “During lockdown, dyed-in-the-wool pub-goers, many for the first time, filled their fridges with supermarket beer – and it has proved to be a momentous challenge to persuade them to return to the more salubrious environment of the saloon bar.”
Martin said numerous issues had come together at once causing a nightmare for the hospitality industry.
“To coin a Shakespeare phrase, ‘the multiplying villainies of nature do swarm upon’ the hospitality industry,” he said. “Following the lockdowns and restrictions of the pandemic - and surprisingly perhaps, the aftermath has been just as difficult for many companies.
“Most commentators, including most publicans, understandably predicted a post-lockdown boom, in which the public would react to enforced cabin fever by embarking on a celebratory spree, but the reality has, in contrast, been a painstakingly slow recovery in sales, for some but not all, accompanied by great inflation in costs.”
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However, he also said that the pub chain has 'improved its prospects in a number of ways in recent financial years' and noted that 'underlying sales are improving'.
If you’re wondering if your local Wetherspoon is one of those going, the pubs already sold are:
Harvest Moon - Orpington
Alexander Bain - Wick
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Chapel an Gansblydhen - Bodmin
Moon on the Square - Basildon
Coal Orchard - Taunton
Running Horse - Airside Doncaster Airport
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Wild Rose - Bootle
Edmund Halley - Lee Green
The Willow Grove - Southport
Postal Order - Worcester
North and South Wales Bank - Wrexham
And the pubs still up for sale are:
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
Featured Image Credit: PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo/ JD WetherspoonTopics: UK News