Wetherspoons to invest £25m in regional expansion by 2024
Pub and hotel chain JD Wetherspoon plans to invests around £25m in new and existing properties in the North West over the next four years, as part of a wider expansion.
UK-listed company Wetherspoon said this week it expects to invest more than £200m in its estate, starting in 2020.
It plans to invest the money in developing new pubs and hotels, as well as enlarging or refurbishing its existing pubs across the UK and Republic of Ireland. The money is to come from its ongoing cashflow, rather than any new fundraising event, a company spokesperson said.
The spokesperson told Place North West: “It’s difficult to give figures specifically for the North West but we estimate around £25m of the budget [will be spent here].” There are currently around 50 Wetherspoon pubs and hotels in the region.
The majority of the investment nationally will be channelled into developments in small and medium-sized towns, but it will also include larger towns and cities, Wetherspoon said.
Wetherspoon founder and chairman Tim Martin said: “We are looking forward to opening many more new pubs as well as investing in existing pubs over the next four years.
“We are especially pleased that a large proportion of the investment will be in smaller towns and cities which have seen a decline in investment in recent years.
Financial analysts noted this week that Wetherspoon typically spends around £200m each year in expanding its estate, and questioned whether this latest pledge represented any significant change in the company’s growth strategy.
Wetherspoon operates 875 pubs and 58 hotels across the UK and Republic of Ireland and employs 44,000 staff.