Wetherspoons pubs at risk of closure including 13 London boozers- see full list

JD Wetherspoon has confirmed which of its pubs are at risk closing down amid a slow recovery in trading, including a number of London boozers. The Harvest Moon in Orpington is one of the group’s 35 sites that remain up for sale.

However, this pub could soon join other Wetherspoon establishments and shut up shop entirely as the firm grapples with “substantially higher costs” including repairs and staff wages.

In October, Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin said the company had undergone a “momentous challenge”  to tempt patrons back after lockdown and suggested pub-goers were opting for cheaper booze on offer in supermarkets. Giving a talk at Cambridge Union, he said: “To coin a Shakespeare phrase, ‘the multiplying villainies of nature do swarm upon’ the hospitality industry.

“Following the lockdowns and restrictions of the pandemic, and surprisingly perhaps, the aftermath has been just as difficult for many companies. Most commentators, including most publicans, understandably predicted a post-lockdown boom in which the public would react to enforced cabin fever by embarking on a celebratory spree.

“But the reality has in contrast been a painstakingly slow recovery in sales, for some but not all, accompanied by great inflation in costs.” However, Mr Martin said that the pub chain has “’improved its prospects in a number of ways in recent financial years”, adding that its  “underlying sales are improving”.

Which Wetherspoon pubs have already sold?

• Harvest Moon - Orpington
• Alexander Bain - Wick
• Chapel an Gansblydhen - Bodmin
• Moon on the Square - Basildon
• Coal Orchard - Taunton
• Running Horse - Airside Doncaster Airport
• Wild Rose - Bootle
• Edmund Halley - Lee Green
• The Willow Grove - Southport
• Postal Order - Worcester
• North and South Wales Bank - Wrexham

Which Wetherspoon pubs are up for sale?

While many Wetherspoon pubs across the UK have been put up for sale, they may not close completely as another pub chain could snap up the location.

• The Butlers Bell - Staffors
• Worlds Inn - Romford
• Silkstone Inn - Barnsley
• Wrong ‘Un - Bexleyheath
• The Percy Shaw - Halifax
• Jolly Sailor - Hanham
• The Alfred Herring - Palmers Green
• The Moon & Bell - Loughborough
• The Widow Frost - Mansfield
• Resolution - Middlesbrough
• Foxley Hatch - Purley
• The Rising Sun - Redditch
• Sennockian - Sevenoaks
• Admiral Sir Lucius Curtis - Southampton
• The Columbia Press - Watford
• The Malthouse - Willenhall
• The John Masefield - New Ferry
• The Crosse Keys - Peebles
• Lord Arthur Lee - Fareham
• The Saltoun Inn - Fraserburgh
• General Sir Redvers Buller - Crediton
• Plough & Harrow - Hammersmith
• Thomas Leaper - Derby
• Cliftonville - Hove
• Tollgate - Turnpike Lane
• Asparagus - Battersea
• Millers Well - East Ham
• Hudson Bay - Forest Gate
• Angel - Islington
• The Billiard Hall - West Bromwich
• Capitol - Forest Hill
• The Bankers Draft - Eltham
• Moon on the Hill - Harrow
• The Bank House - Cheltenham
• Last Post - Loughton