A Wetherspoon pub in Watford is still up for sale along with 38 others as its chairman warned the industry would “inevitably shrink” without action.Spokesperson for the pub giant, Eddie Gershon, told theAll sites up for sale will remain Wetherspoon pubs until they are sold.Wetherspoon runs 844 pubs in the UK and Ireland and like-for-like sales surged nearly 18% over the last three months of 2022, compared with the same period in 2021.
However, group chairman Tim Martin said he feels the biggest threat to the hospitality industry is pubs and restaurants being taxed unfairly, while supermarkets pay no VAT on food sales. “Supermarkets pay zero VAT in respect of food sales, whereas pubs and restaurants pay 20%. This tax benefit allows supermarkets to subsidise the selling price of beer.“We estimate that supermarkets have taken about half of the pub industry’s beer volumes since Wetherspoon started trading in 1979, a process that has likely accelerated following the pandemic.
“Pub industry directors have, in general, failed to campaign for tax equality, which is an important principle of taxation.” He added that the industry will “inevitably shrink” relative to supermarkets if it does not campaign strongly for tax equality.This is the full list of the 39 Wetherspoon pubs currently up for sale:
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