Pub chain JD Wetherspoon is selling off a portfolio of 32 of its UK pubs.
The hospitality firm, which owns and operates around 800 pubs, said it has put the sites on the market - as a “commercial decision”. The mix of ten freehold and 22 leasehold units, all of which are based in town and city centre locations, are being considered for sale either individually, in small packages or as an entire portfolio.
Company spokesman Eddie Gershon said: “On occasion, Wetherspoon does put some of its pubs up for sale. This is a commercial decision. We understand that customers and staff will be disappointed with it. The pubs will continue to operate as Wetherspoon outlets until they are sold.”
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The venues are being marketed by commercial property specialists CBRE and Savills and include the Water House in Durham and Resolution in Middlesbrough.
CBRE senior director Toby Hall said: “The excellent mix of locations in this portfolio is rarely seen in the market. With more than half of the portfolio located in London and the south-east and other strong locations in the south-west, Midlands and the north of England we believe the pubs represent an excellent opportunity for existing pub operators and new entrants”.
News of the sale comes a month after the firm warned that it expects to see heavier than expected annual losses, triggered by increasing staff costs and a slower recovery in trade. The company said it was expecting losses of around £30m for the year ended July, having invested in attracting and retaining new staff as well as on the wider business.
The portfolio sale is believed to be the largest by the pub operator since a large scale sell off in 2016 which resulted in it off-loading 45 across the country, including The Leaping Salmon in Berwick upon Tweed and the Union Rooms in Newcastle.
The Union Rooms was sold to new owners just five months after the pub operator had bought the building and is now known as Liberty House.
List in full of the 32 JD Wetherspoon pubs up for sale:
Barnsley - Silkstone Inn
Beaconsfield - Hope & Champion
Bexleyheath - Wrong ‘Un
Bournemouth - Christopher Creeke
Cheltenham - Bank House
Durham - Water House
Halifax - Percy Shaw
Hanham - Jolly Sailor
Harrow - Moon on the Hill
Hove - Cliftonville Inn
London Battersea - Asparagus
London East Ham - Miller’s Well
London Eltham - Bankers Draft
London Forest Gate - Hudson Bay
London Forest Hill - Capitol
London Hornsey - Toll Gate
London Holborn - Penderel’s Oak
London Islington - Angel
London Palmers Green - Alfred Herring
Loughborough - Moon & Bell
Loughton - Last Post
Mansfield - Widow Frost
Middlesbrough - Resolution
Purley - Foxley Hatch
Redditch - Rising Sun
Sevenoaks - Sennockian
Southampton - Admiral Sir Lucius Curtis
Stafford - Butler’s Bell
Watford - Colombia Press
West Bromwich - Billiard Hall
Willenhall - Malthouse
Wirral - John Masefield
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