UK pub group JD Wetherspoon has confirmed an expansion programme that will see it open 250 new pubs over the next five years, a move which comes at a time when some of its big rivals including Punch Taverns and Enterprise Inns are burdened with debt.
A record 50 pubs a week are currently closing down in the UK, according to the British Beer and Pub Association, but Wetherspoon, which has 743 pubs in the UK, said it will invest £250m in the five-year expansion.
While its low-price offer has been suited to the economic downturn, the pub group had delivered a series of performance-enhancing initiatives long before the credit crunch and has been a pioneer in the sector - anticipating seismic changes in consumers’ leisure and consumption habits.
