Property prices slow Wetherspoon spread
Wetherspoon Chairman Tim Martin told The Irish Times recently that he still plans to open up to 30 pubs here with five already open and another four awaiting planning permission.
“The thing that’s working against us is the property market,” he told the IT, “I can see us having a dozen or so pubs within the next two years but rising property prices might affect this.”
He described the five bars already here as “trading well with higher average sales compared to in the UK”.
Like-for-like sales across the 954-strong Wetherspoon Group rose 2.9% in the six months to January 24th with total revenue up 6.2% to £790.3 million and Operating Profits of £49.4 million, down 10.8%.
Pre-tax profits were down 3.9% to £36.0 million.
The five Wetherspoon pubs already here are The Three Tun Tavern in Blackrock, County Dublin, The Forty Foot in Dun Laoghaire, The Great Wood in Blanchardstown, The Old Borough in Swords and the Linen Weaver in Cork.
