J D Wetherspoon plc (LON: JDW) have pledged to create 10,000 new jobs over the next four years as it expands its presence in the British pub market.
Wetherspoons have seen a very positive financial 2019, as the firm saw their shares rally in November after an impressive quarterly update.
The company reported higher demand for coffee, pink gin, real ale and breakfast. Additionally beer sales rose significantly as British consumer trends changed by the quarter.
J D wetherspoon’s like-for-like sales rose 5.3%, which exceeded both market and analyst expectations.
Today, the FTSE250 listed firm has pledged to create 10,00 jobs as it plans to invest £200 million to open new branches in the UK and Ireland.
The expansion will likely increase the size of Wetherspoon’s workforce by 25%, comes as many rivals have seen a mixed period of trading.
The combination of slow trading, high wages and increased rent rates has seen some UK pub chains struggle.
As a result of these factors, recently Greene King (LON: GNK) was bought out by Hong Kong’s richest man Li Ka-Shing who owns CK Asset Holdings.
Additionally, Slug and Lettuce pub chain owner Stonegate agreed to buy Ei Group in a deal valued at £1.27 billion.
Wetherspoon updated the market by saying that they plan to open between 50-60 new pubs and hotels.
These new branches will be located within in small and medium-sized British towns and cities but also in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Birmingham and Leeds as well as the Irish cities of Dublin and Galway.
“Wetherspoon will not be entering into any deal like everyone else,” a company spokesman said.
Tim Martin, who is the company’s biggest shareholder has been flooding news headlines since the Brexit referendum has been an advocate of Brexit.
“We are looking forward to opening many more new pubs as well as investing in existing pubs over the next four years,” Martin said in a statement.
New Wetherspoon pubs will open in places such as Bourne, Ely, Diss, Felixstowe, Newport Pagnell and Prestatyn, the company said.
Once again, it seems that Wetherspoon has pulled the rabbit out of the hat with the statement updating the market today.
Shareholders should be very impressed with the update and the pledge made this morning, and certainly this does impose a stamp of domination onto the British pub chain market.
