JDW in 7am bid to catch the early bird

by The PMA Team and Ewan Turney

Managed operator JD Wetherspoon is hoping to spark sales growth by taking full advantage of the new licensing regime to open at 7am to serve breakfast. The company is also applyingto serve alcohol at 9am ­ an hour earlier than the current start of 10am.

The operator, which has been offering breakfasts for more than two years now, hopes to fully engage the likes of Starbucks and McDonalds in the breakfast market.

Chairman Tim Martin said: "Our breakfast offer has been successful since it was launched but has reached a plateau. But there's no better breakfast than bacon, egg and pint of Abbott." It was "quite possible" that the company would review its breakfast offer to see whether it could offer other items.

On his own breakfast habits, Martin said: "I have breakfast at a Wetherspoon pub a couple of times a week, but I only ever have the breakfast bap."

JDW launched its breakfast offer in September 2002. Sales grew to around 60,000 breakfasts a week and then stalled ­ probably because service did not start until 10am.

Chief executive John Hutson has claimed in the past that breakfast helped "evolve" the JD Wetherspoon brand and creates a buzz. "It provides a degree of momentum and makes the pub a more attractive place to come at lunchtime," he said.

In general, JDW outlets plan to close an hour later on weekdays and stay open another hour on top of that at weekends but hours are to be decided on a case-by-case basis. It will only consider applying for a 24-hour licence at airports or stations. "Currently we have no applications for 24-hour licences lodged," said company spokesman Eddie Gershon.

l City & business ­ p12