List in full: pub chain JD Wetherspoon puts portfolio of 32 of pubs on the market

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”.

Founder and Chairman of JD Wetherspoon, Tim Martin

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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BusinessLive – London