Wetherspoon set for pub openings

PUB chain JD Wetherspoon is to create 85 jobs in Yorkshire with the opening of two new pubs in Otley and Sheffield next month.

The new pubs are part of Wetherspoon's commitment to open 12 new pubs in July.

It is investing more than 12.5m on the new outlets and creating 550 full and part-time jobs. The other 10 pubs are scattered around the country.

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JD Wetherspoon's chairman Tim Martin said: "Yorkshire continues to be a great region for the company and we are pleased to be opening two new outlets there.

"We will continue to look for good sites in Yorkshire and are confident that we will open more pubs in towns and cities throughout the region for many years to come."

The first of the two pubs to open will be The Bowling Green in Bondgate, Otley, which is being built on the site of a former pub.

The development cost is 960,000 and 35 jobs are being created. It will open on Friday July 2.

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The second to open is The Sheaf Island at Ecclesall Road in Sheffield which will open on Friday July 16. The development cost is 1.1m and 50 jobs are being created.

The Sheaf Island pub has been built on the site of the former Wards Brewery.

"Our pubs continue to prove popular and it is especially rewarding to be opening outlets in a number of areas where we are not yet represented," said Mr Martin .

Some of the pubs in locations outside Yorkshire are former Chicago Rock Cafe sites which Wetherspoons bought from troubled nightclub operator Luminar earlier this year.

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Other pubs are on sites where former pubs have closed down, a move which Wetherspoons hopes will breathe life back into communities which have seen their local shut down during the recession.

The investment forms part of the group's overall strategy to add 250 pubs to its estate in the next five years.

These latest openings will take Wetherspoons' estate to 778 pubs.

Last month, Wetherspoons said that like-for-like sales for the 13 weeks to 25 April – its third quarter – had slipped by 0.8 per cent.

The company is now slightly more cautious about the outlook for the next financial year, given tax and duty increases, higher interest rate charges, and subdued consumer spending.