An early start gives boost to profits at JD

The group is now selling more than 400,000 breakfasts a week and the move to open two hours earlier has prompted a 40 per cent rise in coffee sales to 600,000 a week, making it one of the UK's biggest coffee chains.

The buoyant trading comes at a time when many smaller pubs are closing down.

Profits before tax and exceptional items rose seven per cent to 71m in the year to July 25 on total sales up 4.3 per cent to 996.3m.

The positive trend has continued into the new financial year and like-for-like sales have risen 1.5 per cent.

The group opened 47 pubs during the year to July and said it plans to open at least the same number in the year to come.

Yorkshire is a key target area for the company, which has identified sites in Ripon, Wakefield, Whitby, Driffield, Beverley, Scarborough, Pudsey, Mirfield, York, Morley, Horsforth, Halifax, Selby, Northallerton, Thorne, Ossett and Chapel Allerton

Wetherspoon's operations director Martin Geoghegan said the company is looking for more sites in the region.

"We are having real success in Yorkshire," he said. "We have seen an exceptionally good performance in Leeds and we're opening a new pub in Sheffield today. Yorkshire has been a really good area for us and in larger towns and cities, we can have more than one site."

He said that Wetherspoon's appeals to people who are looking for a quality experience for a reasonable price.

"The vast majority of Yorkshire pubs have got people from the area running them," he said. "They have progressed through the ranks."

In Leeds the group has six pubs in the city centre and all except one are run by managers who come from the area.

Mr Geoghegan said the chain's success is that it appeals to all age groups. "It's not just 18 to 25-year-olds, we also appeal to pensioners and families," he said.

The company, which has around 775 outlets, created more than 2,400 jobs in the last financial year and said it expects to be one of the biggest and fastest growing employers in the UK over the next five years. Chairman Tim Martin said one of the biggest dangers facing the firm and the industry as a whole continued to be the increase in taxes and regulations.

"It is hoped that the UK Government's attitude towards pubs changes and that a co-operative and helpful, rather than a punitive, approach is adopted," he said.

The company said it was responsible for around 400m of tax payments in the last financial year, including VAT, excise duty on alcoholic drinks and employment and property taxes.

"The previous government adopted an approach of increasing taxes and regulations for pubs, greatly increasing the costs of running these businesses," said Mr Martin.

"Since the provision of a pint in a pub is far more labour intensive than a pint purchased in a supermarket, the effect of many of these taxes and regulations has been far greater for pubs than for supermarkets or other off-licensed premises."

Mr Geoghegan said the group is optimistic it can continue its good performance despite future challenges such as the increase in VAT which will be introduced in January.

Talking about the impending public sector cuts and job losses he said that once they are imposed, people will want more for their money.

"Once the cuts come through people will watch their pennies. If they've only got a couple of pounds to spend, we can potentially do well," he said.

Attack on legislation

Wetherspoons' chairman Tim Martin has accused the former Government of introducing new legislation as a publicity stunt.

Speaking yesterday he said: "It is clear that much of the legislation which has caused extreme hardship for publicans and their staff has really amounted to little more than a public relations stunt."

He used the example of police officers having to recruit 15 and 16-year-olds in schools and pay them to go into pubs, under police supervision, to try and buy drinks.

"This sort of 'entrapment' is prohibited in most areas of the law, but has been zealously pursued against licensed premises," he said.