JDW buys fifth Laurel venue
JD Wetherspoon has added a fifth site to the four it has already acquired from the 90 or so Laurel Pub Company sites in administration.
The company has added a former Slug & Lettuce site in Ealing, London.
The pub, which is closed, has a rent of £65,000 per annum on a lease that expires in 2031.
Chief executive John Hutson (pictured) told the Morning Advertiser: "We've spent 30 years looking for a site in Ealing. We have a site in nearby Acton which does pretty well.
"It's not a huge pub but it is well-located."
Previously, Wetherspoon has acquired a Hogshead in Weymouth, a Slug & Lettuce in Oxford, a Bar Med in Shrewsbury and a Bar Med in Bournemouth.
Hutson said the company was paying small premiums to cover the costs of the administrator Kroll.
The Ealing site will have a refurbishment and is expected to re-open in a few months time.
Hutson said a few weeks ago that normal fit-out cost for a leasehold site was around £1.1m so the company was acquiring the former Laurel sites for a fraction of normal fit-out costs.
