JDW to invest more than £30m into new sites and refurbishments

09-Jul-2020 - Last updated on 09-Jul-2020 at 08:04 GMT

Portfolio expansion: JD Wetherspoon is investing the funds into new sites in England and one in Ireland

Pub giant JD Wetherspoon is pumping more than €21m (approximately £18.8m) into a new pub and hotel in Dublin, Ireland, while earmarking a further £12m for opening new pubs and refurbishments in existing sites - a total of around £30.8m.

The new site in Ireland will have 89 bedrooms, create up to 200 full and part-time jobs and will be named Keavan’s Port.

In addition, JDW is investing in two new sites in Crossgates in Leeds and Kingswinford in the West Midlands.

The pubs being refurbished include sites in Salisbury, Wiltshire; Peterborough, Cambridgeshire; Stafford, Staffordshire; and South Shields, Tyne and Wear.

Price rise

News of JDW's investment plans comes after the operator confirmed that food and drink across its estate will see a rise in prices.

JDW previously announced it was investing £11m into safety measures for staff and customers for reopening.

Spokesman Eddie Gershon said: “Prices will go up on beer, spirits and wine by approximately 10p a serving about 20p on a meal.

“All we can say in this area is we try to keep prices as competitive as possible. From time to time, there will be price rises but we always try and minimise them.

“Even with price rises, the entire pub industry, including JDW, will be less profitable than before pubs closed because costs will be so much higher.”

Share placing

The Morning Advertiser previously reported the pub group revealed it raised a total of about £141m before fees, following a share placing in April 2020, in a business update.

A group of the company’s lending banks has also approved a further £48.3m loan through the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme.

In a trading update in relation to Covid-19, the operator also said it was opening its pubs on Saturday 4 July, in line with Government guidance. It stated that following consultation with employees, which had more than 3,000 suggestions, the pub company has created the ‘Wetherspoon Covid-19 Secure Operating Plan’, which sets out how it intends to safely operate pubs upon reopening.

The statement added that JDW doesn’t intend to start any new pub development projects in the next 12 months but a small number of projects that were ‘on site’ when pubs closed will be finished in due course.