Full list of Wetherspoon pubs that could close and ones opening in 2025

JD Wetherspoons says it hopes to open 200 new pubs in the coming years (Picture: Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Wetherspoons has issued an update on which pubs are at risk of closure and which new branches will soon be opening.

The popular chain has shut 26 of its pubs across the country since July 2023, following several closures the year before.

Right now, two of its sites are currently at risk as they are either up for sale or under offer.

But there are also 13 brand new branches opening up in spots across the UK this year.

Wetherspoons has already opened two new branches this year in London Waterloo and and Marlow, Buckinghamshire.

Other branches are due to open across a range of cities like Bath, London and Manchester.

While dozens of Wetherspoons have shut, Tim Martin said the chain hopes to open new branches as inflation finally eases. Sites in 130 towns and cities are being eyed up.

Several have already opened last year, including the Captain Flinders near Euston Station, London, The Lion and Unicorn opened at Waterloo Station also in London, the Star Light at Heathrow Airport, The Grand Assembly in Marlow and the Scribbling Mill in the White Rose Shopping Centre, in Leeds.

The number of Wetherspoons pubs in the UK has fallen by around 150 in the past decade (Picture: Getty)

A number of sites were also been expanded, including the Red Lion, Skegness; the Talk of the Town, Paignton; the Albany Palace, Trowbridge and the Mile Castle, Newcastle.

Wetherspoons enjoyed sales growth of nearly 8% over the 12 months leading up to July this year, when it published its most recent trading update.

Yet it has sold or surrendered the lease on several of its pubs.

The Wetherspoons branches under offer are not guaranteed to be sold, and could remain open if the sale falls through.

Otherwise they will likely be closed in the coming months and repurposed or reopened as a pub under different management.

The pubs currently under offer are the Ivor Davies in Cardiff and The Quay in Poole.

Wetherspoons regularly reviews which branches are up for sale and sometimes takes them off the market to continue operating as Spoons pubs.

It previously said most of the recent closures are of venues which are ‘smaller and older’, or where the company has a second pub reasonably nearby.

Recent closures include The Hain Line in Cornwall, which closed on October 7 last year, Foot of the Walk in Leith which closed on November 3, and The Linen Weaver in Cork, which closed just before Christmas.

Business took a battering during the cost-of-living crisis (Picture: Alamy Stock Photo)

The George in Wanstead called last orders for the final time last October 13, but it has since reopened as The George & Dragon, owned by the Urban Pubs and Bars chain.

JD Wetherspoon boss Sir Tim Martin has trimmed down his roster of pubs from 950 a decade ago to around 800 today.

The company sold or gave up the lease on 30 pubs in 2024, following the closure of 41 locations in 2023.

Tim Martin said in the latest trading update: ‘The gradual recovery in sales and profits, following the pandemic, has continued in the current financial year.

‘Total sales are, again, at record levels, with fewer pubs.’

Wetherspoons has long been known for its cut-price beer and food, with the pub chain refusing to increase the cost of its £5.75 breakfast.

‘People are happy to go out for a pint if you keep the price competitive. It’s not like buying a sofa,’ Martin told The Guardian in March.

Bosses say sales have continued to rise despite losing pubs (Picture: Getty)

He later told The Sun he would not be increasing prices this year.

About 71% of Wetherspoons are now freehold – meaning the company owns the land outright – compared to 41% in 2010.

The goal, the company said in its financial report in March, is to open 1,000 pubs.

The report said: ‘In spite of a reduction in the overall number of pubs, sales have continued to increase – total sales are now about one-third higher than in 2015, when the number of pubs peaked, and sales per pub have increased by about 50% since then.’

This is an updated version of an article published on September 16, 2024.

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