Fri, 22 Sep 2023 | COMMERCIAL PROPERTY
Pub giant JD Wetherspoon has announced the latest portfolio of pubs that it will put up for sale, appointing estate agents to bring 11 sites to the market. The company has engaged Savills and CBRE to sell the pubs, which are available either individually, in small packages or as a single portfolio.
The pubs comprise 10 freehold sites and one leasehold and are located in town and city centres across England and Wales. The company has stated that the pubs, part of its wider portfolio of 822 sites, will remain open during the sale process.
The UK pub sector has experienced an incredibly difficult few years, having been significantly impacted by enforced closures and social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic and, more recently, being among the industries most affected by the rising costs of energy, labour and food and drink. These factors have seen JD Wetherspoon market several portfolios of pubs for sale over recent years, including a package of 32 sites in September 2022.
Earlier this month, the company specifically cited the pressure of VAT that hospitality businesses are facing. The company’s chairman said: “The biggest threat to the hospitality industry is the vast disparity in tax treatment among pubs, restaurants and supermarkets. Supermarkets pay zero VAT in respect of food sales, whereas pubs and restaurants pay 20 per cent.”
“This tax benefit allows supermarkets to subsidise the selling price of beer. Pubs have been under fantastic pressure for decades, because of the tax disadvantages they have with supermarkets.”
To combat this, Wetherspoons has called on Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to implement tax equality between pubs and supermarkets. On September 14, to mark Tax Equality Day, the company announced it would cut prices by 7.5 per cent for the day to highlight the benefit a permanent VAT reduction would deliver for the hospitality sector.
Despite announcing that it was seeking to sell another portfolio of pubs, the company has also highlighted how it is continuing to invest, with a spokesperson saying that pubs in Birmingham and Southsea had recently reopened following £1.5 million in refurbishments.
Furthermore, pubs in Cardiff, Glasgow and Wakefield are being redeveloped and extended at a cost of around £8 million, while the company is going ahead with plans to open a number of new pubs and hotels and make major upgrades to existing sites, at a total cost of around £100 million.
Commenting on the portfolio of pubs that is being brought to market, Savills Director Paul Breen said: “These substantial and well-invested pubs are likely to appeal to a broad range of potential buyers.”
Toby Hall, Senior Director of CBRE, added: “The pubs are all in long-established and proven trading locations, making them ideal for both existing pub operators and new entrants”.
The pubs being put up for sale are: The Pontolottyn, Abertillery; The Ivor Davies, Cardiff; Spa Lane Vaults, Chesterfield; The Gate House, Doncaster; The Market Cross, Holywell; The Regent, Kirkby in Ashfield; The Mock Beggar Hall, Moreton; The Hain Line, St Ives (pictured above); The Sir Norman Rae, Shipley; The Sir Daniel Arms, Swindon; and The White Hart, Todmorden.
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