Wetherspoons to shut another pub this month - just weeks before Christmas

01 December 2023 , 14:44

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Another Wetherspoons pub will be closing this month (Image: Getty Images)

Wetherspoons is shutting down another pub later this month.

North London pub The Coronet will be shutting on Sunday December 10. This Spoons site is beloved by locals as the venue on Holloway Road first opened as the Savoy Cinema back in 1940.

The Coronet was designed by architect William Glenn and later became a public house in 1983. The building was also used as a snooker hall and amusement arcade before Wetherspoons bought it in 1996 and turned it back into a pub. The Coronet building is registered as an "asset of community value" and any changes to the look of the building would need planning permission according to reports from the Islington Tribune.

The pub was put up for sale last year alongside 30 others. Wetherspoons said that the decision to sell was a "commercial one" and it was a "misinterpretation" to suggest the move was down to difficult trading conditions. On the closure, a Wetherspoons spokesperson said: “We would like to thank our loyal and wonderful staff and customers for their dedicated work and custom over the years.”

Locals should not be disappointed with the news as the watering hole was purchased by David Nourani, the chief executive of DN Property London, for an undisclosed sum. The pub becomes the latest addition to the DN Property London's portfolio which also includes former Wetherspoons pub The Tollgate in Harringay.

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Mr Nourani said his “intention” was for The Coronet to continue to trade as a pub, although an opening date for the new management has not been announced.

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The Coronet building is registered as an "asset of community value" in the London borough of Islington (Jane Hobson/REX/Shutterstock)

In a statement David Nourani said: “The Coronet is steeped in so much history that it would have been scandalous if it had been allowed to close. My intention is that it will continue as a public house, with exciting plans for a delicate and sensitive renovation."

Wetherspoon has confirmed that no staff at the venue will be made redundant, instead, they will be either be retained or offered alternative roles at other Wetherspoons pubs.

In its July trading update this year, Wetherspoons said it had already sold 28 sites this year. Of the closed pubs, 15 had a lease expire or the company exercised its "break clause" - this allowed both Wetherspoons and the building's landlord to end the tenancy contract early. Even with the closures, Wetherspoons still remains the largest pub chain in the country with the business having 827 pubs across the UK and Ireland.

Ruby Flanagan