JDW: 'Edinburgh's rules block growth'

JD Wetherspoon (JDW) has claimed that Edinburgh City Council's strict licensing rules have made it very difficult for the company to increase its presence in the city.

The managed operator currently has two pubs in Edinburgh, compared with eight in Glasgow. The pubco also said that the city's booming property market had made it even harder to acquire new sites.

JDW chief executive John Hutson, said: "We don't want to overpay for properties, and we have not been as successful as we would have liked in finding suitable properties in Edinburgh. But licensing is an added complexity. Pub licences are difficult to achieve if residents are living above the pub. In Edinburgh this is often the case."

JDW also said that the proposed plans to make pubs and bars provide seating for at least 50% of their drinkers and other onerous licensing conditions were inhibiting the companies plans to expand in the city.

Colin Wilkinson, general secretary of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, said: "We're not necessarily opposed to Wetherspoon opening new venues in the city, but there are far too many licences being handed out. Some streets in the city have more than 20 pubs - it's a case of over-provision."

Marjorie Thomas, convenor of the licensing board at Edinburgh City Council, said: "We are open to working with responsible companies that want to bring forward proposals that help to maintain Edinburgh as a vibrant, thriving international city.

"However, we must act in the interests of all those who work, live and relax in Edinburgh - we already have among the highest ratios of licensed premises per head of population in the country."