Managed Groups

New Wetherspoon beer mat flags 'big business scare story'

04-Dec-2017 By Stuart Stone

JD Wetherspoon has issued a new beer mat highlighting its support of the British fishing industry and accusing business chiefs of misleading the public on soaring food prices after Brexit.

JD Wetherspoon is ‘ready to leave the EU’, says its chairman

08-Nov-2017 By Georgina Townshend

JD Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin says the company is “now ready to leave the EU” as it believes there is “almost no preparation required”.

Wetherspoon launches beer mat manifesto for Brexit

01-Nov-2017 By Michelle Perrett

JD Wetherspoon has placed 500,000 beer mats in its 895 pubs, calling for the UK parliament to back its three-point Brexit manifesto.

JDW slams Twitter claim it will stop staff wearing poppies

27-Oct-2017 By Claire Churchard

A spoof JD Wetherspoon account on Twitter has sparked outrage after falsely announcing that the pub chain would not allow its staff to wear a remembrance poppy while at work.

‘Traditional’ Christmas dinner still off Wetherspoon's menu

19-Oct-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Pub giant JD Wetherspoon (JDW) will not be offering ‘traditional’ Christmas dinners on its menus for the second year in a row.

JD Wetherspoon could switch to non-EU suppliers

15-Sep-2017 By Georgina Townshend

JD Wetherspoon’s chairman said he is considering looking at suppliers outside the EU due to the “current posturing and threats” by Brexit negotiators, who need to “wise up”.

JD Wetherspoon boss: VAT ‘militates against pubs’

13-Sep-2017 By James Beeson

Pubs are being penalised unfairly by VAT on food and drink, according to JD Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin.

JD Wetherspoon turns to planning inspectorate over Leeds planning application saga

11-Sep-2017 By Georgina Townshend

Negotiations for a new JD Wetherspoon (JDW) site in Leeds have turned sour after council members deferred the pubco’s planning application for a third time in a year

JDW to slash prices for Tax Equality Day

11-Sep-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Pub giant JD Wetherspoon (JDW) is cutting the prices of food and drink at its 900 sites by 7.5% on Wednesday 20 September to highlight the benefit that a VAT reduction would bring to the trade.

Large pub chains at risk of serious financial damage

01-Sep-2017 By Nicholas Robinson

Pubs face twin risks from consumer weakness and rising input costs, leading global banking giant HSBC to downgrade its ratings for JD Wetherspoon and Greene King last week.

Pest control called to JDW pub after maggots fall from ceiling

23-Aug-2017 By James Beeson

A Kent pub was forced to partially close on Tuesday (22 August) after maggots started to fall from its ceiling.

Would you let customers charge their phones behind the bar?

14-Aug-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Following national reports that JD Wetherspoon (JDW) has banned customers from charging their phones behind the bar of its pubs, The Morning Advertiser spoke with licensees about their policies on the issue.

JD Wetherspoon denies paying its staff below the minimum wage

27-Jul-2017 By Fred A'Court

JD Wetherspoon has denied it pays some of its staff below the national minimum rate. 

JDW pub kitchen forced to shut after ‘pests’ found in nearby bins

26-Jul-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Pests, thought to be maggots were discovered in nearby bins to a JD Wetherspoon (JDW) pub in Gloucestershire, forcing the kitchen to close temporarily. 

Huddersfield pub aims to take JD Wetherspoon’s ‘biggest UK pub’ title

20-Jul-2017 By Georgina Townshend

A new pub in Huddersfield believes it can beat JD Wetherspoon’s claim to have the biggest boozer in the UK.

Charity chairman demands apology after pub ejection

19-Jul-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

A cancer patient has criticised pub giant JD Wetherspoon after being thrown out of the group's Liverpool sites for “touting” and demands an apology.

Wetherspoon’s Tim Martin featured in pro-Brexit poster

14-Jul-2017 By Georgina Townshend

A pro-Brexit campaign group has used a poster of JD Wetherspoon’s chairman Tim Martin in front of a Union Jack toasting the message “Brexit gloomsters should put a sock in it”.

Armed police praise JD Wetherspoon staff following ‘gun discovery’

04-Jul-2017 By Georgina Townshend

Police have praised the staff members of a Southampton JD Wetherspoon pub after armed officers rushed to the site following reports of a man with a gun.

Dress code

What JD Wetherspoon wants its customers to wear

04-Jul-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Following reports in national and local press, The Morning Advertiser has revisited the dress code for customers at JD Wetherspoon pubs.

Is JD Wetherspoon opening the ‘biggest pub in the UK’?

29-Jun-2017 By Georgina Townshend

JD Wetherspoon claimed it would be opening “probably” the biggest pub in the UK this summer. 

Wetherspoon announces ‘biggest single investment’ in new Dublin pub

26-Jun-2017 By Georgina Townshend

Wetherspoon is to embark on what it claims to be its biggest-ever investment, converting a row of “derelict” properties into a new pub and hotel, chairman Tim Martin has announced.

Wetherspoon invests £2.5m in 52nd hotel

15-Jun-2017 By Georgina Townshend

Wetherspoon is opening its 52nd hotel at one of its pubs in Hull following a development project that cost more than £2.5 million.

Carling and JD Wetherspoon launch community campaign

12-Jun-2017 By Georgina Townshend

Carling has teamed up with JD Wetherspoon to launch a nationwide campaign in JDW pubs to “give something back” to communities across Great Britain.

Stonegate reopens iconic JDW site after investing £750,000

02-Jun-2017 By Liam Coleman

Stonegate has reopened former JD Wetherspoon (JDW) site Tally Ho in Finchley, north London, after a £750,000 investment.

PCA to examine claims pubcos ‘inhibit’ tenant access to MROs

02-Jun-2017 By Liam Coleman

The office of Pubs Code Adjudicator (PCA) Paul Newby has approached industry bodies for evidence following concerns pubcos could be inhibiting tenant access to the market-rent-only (MRO) option.

Cautious optimism over fixed hours for zero-hours contracts workers

24-May-2017 By Liam Coleman

A Government-commissioned inquiry that recommends employees on zero-hours contracts are given a right to request fixed hours has been given a cautious welcome by one trade body.

Turnover of largest pub groups continues to outpace inflation

23-May-2017 By Liam Coleman

The average turnover of the 50 biggest pub companies in the UK is continuing to outpace inflation.

JD Wetherspoon plans to transform sixth Liverpool city centre site

16-May-2017 By Georgina Townshend

JD Wetherspoon plans to spend £2.5m converting a derelict office building into its sixth site in Liverpool’s city centre.

Brexit: employers concerned as future of EU workers remains unclear

29-Mar-2017 By Michelle Perrett

Article 50 will be triggered today and the official countdown to Britain leaving the EU will begin in earnest, but the detail that is worrying most who work in the pub trade is the crisis in waiting around the residency and working rights of foreign employees...

Wetherspoon customers can now order and pay using new app

13-Mar-2017 By Georgina Townshend

JD Wetherspoon has rolled out a new phone app that allows anyone with an iPhone or Andriod phone to order food and drink, and pay for it without leaving their seat.

JD Wetherspoon faces £20m post-Budget cost hikes

10-Mar-2017 By Daniel Woolfson

JD Wetherspoon (JDW) chairman Tim Martin has blasted Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond's spring Budget, claiming it will “weigh heavily” on already pressured pubs.

JDW will be first pub chain to show drinks calories

19-Feb-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Calorie information for all pub giant JD Wetherspoon’s (JDW) drinks will be shown on its menu and website for the first time from next month.

JDW pub refuses to serve football fans

18-Jan-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

JD Wetherspoon has apologised to football fans who were refused service at a Staffordshire pub.

Tim Martin calls EU predictions 'catastrophically poor'

18-Jan-2017 By Michelle Perrett

JD Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin has accused economists, politicians and intellectuals of failing to understand the implications of leaving the EU, while JD Wetherspoon reports positive results.

Food

JD Wetherspoon apologises to 'disgusted' customer for 'half' eaten dish

11-Jan-2017 By Sara Hussein

JD Wetherspoon has apologised for not replacing a woman’s dish that had been already partially eaten by another customer.  

Training

JDW apologises for wrongly ejecting disabled customer

09-Jan-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

JDW has apologised to a multiple sclerosis (MS) sufferer after one of its doorstaff threw him out after accusing him of being drunk.

JDW

2017 predictions: JDW boss slams BBPA Brexit warnings

16-Dec-2016 By Nikkie Sutton

JD Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin has hit back at BBPA chief executive Brigid Simmonds following her claims that Brexit and its consequences will be the main challenge for the sector next year.

Pest control

Mouse spotted in JDW pub

08-Dec-2016 By Nikkie Sutton

Pest-control operators were called to a JDW pub in Kent after a mouse was seen scurrying across the floor.

Opinion

'Taxes killing pubs while supermarkets surge'

22-Nov-2016 By Tim Martin

Two taxes in particular are killing pubs according to Tim Martin: business rates and VAT. Here the JD Wetherspoon chairman has his say on the situation... 

JDW vs Travellers

JDW agrees £44k settlement for travellers refused entry to pub

18-Nov-2016 By Daniel Woolfson

Travellers who were controversially refused entry to one of JD Wetherspoon’s London pubs in November 2011 have reached an out-of-court settlement with the pub giant.

JDW

Wetherspoon closure 'due to outbreak of diarrhoea'

11-Nov-2016 By James Evison

JDW pub, the Opera House, in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, was forced to close yesterday due to a suspected norovirus outbreak.

JDW

JDW boss: Under-18s drinking in pubs could help to stop binge drinking

08-Nov-2016 By Nikkie Sutton

JDW boss Tim Martin has said 16 and 17-year-olds being able to legally drink in pubs could help prevent binge drinking.

JD WETHERSPOON

JD Wetherspoon boss attacks 'bullying and hectoring' European leaders

02-Nov-2016 By Daniel Woolfson

JD Wetherspoon (JDW) boss Tim Martin has accused EU leaders of “bullying” the UK following the country’s decision to leave the union. 

JD Wetherspoon

JD Wetherspoon and Punch push for greater food sustainability

06-Oct-2016 By Daniel Woolfson

JD Wetherspoon (JDW) and Punch have signed up to the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA)’s Food Made Good scheme.

Pubcos

JDW to sell a further five pubs

30-Sep-2016 By James Evison

JD Wetherspoon has appointed property agents CBRE and Savills to sell a further five of its pubs. 

Staff

JDW boss to offer zero-hours staff guaranteed contracts

12-Sep-2016 By Nikkie Sutton

JD Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin has become the latest big name to offer staff on zero-hours contracts the opportunity to work guaranteed hours.

JDW

Stonegate has exchanged on a package of 10 JD Wetherspoon pubs

08-Sep-2016 By James Wallin, MCA

The package comprises pubs in High Wycombe; North Finchley; Torquay; Berwick; Walton-on-Thames; Banbury; Cheadle Hulme; Hull; Reading and Newquay.

Property

Second Wetherspoon pub plan in city refused

24-Aug-2016 By Nikkie Sutton

A second Wetherspoon pub in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, has been refused for the second time in less than a year.

Health and safety

'Infested' JD Wetherspoon pub will not reopen

01-Aug-2016 By Nikkie Sutton

A Wetherspoon's pub that closed last month (July) due to a “pest infestation” will not reopen, the pubco has announced.

Health and safety

'Pest infestation' forces Wetherspoon's to shut

21-Jul-2016 By Nikkie Sutton

The William White pub in Nuneaton has closed its doors following a pest control problem - but pubco JD Wetherspoon is unsure when the pub will reopen.