Pub giant JD Wetherspoon today revealed it is to open its third pub in Shrewsbury - and has not ruled out buying more in the town.The company will move into the former Bar Med site in Lower Claremont Bank after the Laurel leasehold pub went into administration.
The move comes less than two months after Wetherspoons was given the go-ahead to open a £1 million bar in Shrewsbury’s Pride Hill Shopping Centre.
The application was approved despite nearby residents claiming it will make their lives “unbearable”.
Wetherspoons has also bought a Hogshead in Weymouth, a Slug & Lettuce in Oxford and a Bar Med in Bournemouth. Bosses said they moved quickly on all four venues because they had attracted a fair amount of interest.
Chief executive John Hutson said the cost of converting the four sites to JDW venues would be in excess of £1 million.
The normal fit-out cost for one leasehold site is £1.1million.
He said: “The fixtures and fittings have been taken at these sites, which are in varying states of disrepair.
“The fit-out might cost a bit more than £1 million altogether for the four sites.”
Eddie Gershon, spokesman for Wetherspoons, said when the company finds a town or city of a decent size that already has a Wetherspoons doing well they will look at other sites in the area.
He said: “Shrewsbury is a good town, I don’t think we would ever say: ‘That’s it’ for a certain place.”
The Shrewsbury site carries a rent of £90,000 and was formerly Bar Med.
Bar Med and Yates’s in Shrewsbury closed at the end of March with 45 employees left to search for another job. The news came as the Laurel Pub Company, owner of both venues, carries out a nationwide closure programme which will see more than 60 pubs and bars close across the UK.
The new Pride Hill pub was given the go ahead in April but stringent licensing conditions have been put on, including a requirement to have at least two licensed door supervisors from 8pm until closing from Wednesday to Sunday.
The application was approved despite nearby residents claiming it will make their lives “unbearable”.
Wetherspoons has also bought a Hogshead in Weymouth, a Slug & Lettuce in Oxford and a Bar Med in Bournemouth.
Eddie Gershon, spokesman for Wetherspoons, said when the company finds a town or city of a decent size that already has a Wetherspoons doing well, they will look at other sites in the area.
4 Comments
wetherspoons no doubt will have an interest in the former midland red bus garage, and the flax mill behind. there should be room for a weherspoons at each of the 3 park and ride’s, also how about a wetherspoons in the market hall oh and all that space at shrewsbury station, er i hope they leave enough room for existing pubs in shrewsbury. do they want to build another pub at say the gay meadow
I hope they get more staff then because they can barely cope on a saturday with the one they have now
I have to agree, lets hope they do get more staff in there new one!!
Last weekend i went to the shrewsbury hotel and had to wait 15 mins outside before we could go n then waited 20 mins before we were served!!!!
oh, I thought the giant opening the pub might have been the Jolly Green Giant, silly me