Wetherspoons to sell off more of its pubs as 39 set to close across the UK - list of locations affected

JD Wetherspoon has announced another round of closures as it plans to sell off more of its pubs across the UK.

The pub chain has confirmed it is planning to sell seven more of its venues, bringing the total number of pubs affected this year to 39.

In September it said it had made the “commercial decision” to list 32 of its pubs for sale after warning it could face losses of £30 million due to rising staff wages and repairs.

Spokesman Eddie Gershon previously said: “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.”

The venues are being marketed by commercial property specialists CBRE and Savills, and include sites in London, Durham and Middlesbrough.

Toby Hall, senior director at CBRE, added: “The excellent mix of locations in this portfolio is rarely seen in the market.

“With more than half of the portfolio located in London and the south-east and other strong locations in the south-west, Midlands and the north of England we believe the pubs represent an excellent opportunity for existing pub operators and new entrants”.

Wetherspoons has not yet said where the latest batch of affected pubs are based. A spokesperson said the sell-off was a "commercial decision" and that the venues would continue to trade until a buyer was found. If no sale can be agreed then the venues will stay open as normal Wetherspoons.

Which pubs are up for sale? 

The 32 JD Wetherspoon pubs up for sale so far are:

• Barnsley – Silkstone Inn
• Beaconsfield – Hope & Champion
• Bexleyheath – Wrong ‘Un
• Bournemouth – Christopher Creeke
• Cheltenham – Bank House
• Durham – Water House
• Halifax – Percy Shaw
• Hanham – Jolly Sailor
• Harrow – Moon on the Hill
• Hove – Cliftonville Inn
• London Battersea – Asparagus
• London East Ham – Miller’s Well
• London Eltham – Bankers Draft
• London Forest Gate – Hudson Bay
• London Forest Hill – Capitol
• London Hornsey – Toll Gate
• London Holborn – Penderel’s Oak
• London Islington – Angel
• London Palmers Green – Alfred Herring
• Loughborough – Moon & Bell
• Loughton – Last Post
• Mansfield – Widow Frost
• Middlesborough – Resolution
• Purley – Foxley Hatch
• Redditch – Rising Sun
• Sevenoaks - Sennockian
• Southampton – Admiral Sir Lucius Curtis
• Stafford – Butler’s Bell
• Watford – Colombia Press
• West Bromwich – Billiard Hall
• Willenhall – Malthouse
• Wirral – John Masefield.

A brief history 

Wetherspoons chairman and founder of the chain Tim Martin was born in Norwich in 1955 and lived in the UK, New Zealand and Northern Ireland - attending 11 schools. In 1979, he became a barrister after attending the University of Nottingham.

Mr Martin bought a bookies-turned-pub in London’s Muswell Hill in the same year and renamed it Wetherspoon in 1980. The company floated on the Stock Exchange in 1992 and became JD Wetherspoon plc.

The ‘JD’ part of the company name ‘JD Wetherspoons’ was taken from a character in the US TV series The Dukes of Hazzard.

Wetherspoons now has 872 branches (soon to minus 32), employing 43,000 people. In 2020, the chain made £76.6 million in profit.