Wetherspoons to shut yet another pub today after a string of closures this year

03 December 2023 , 07:00

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Another Watherspooms pub wil be closing this weekend (Image: In Pictures via Getty Images)

Wetherspoons will be shutting another one of its pubs today after a string of closures this year.

The Foxley Hatch in Purley will be pulling down its shutters at the end of its trading day today. This means locals will be able to enjoy a drink until midnight tonight.

In a statement on the closure, a Wetherspoon spokesperson said: “We would like to thank all of the staff and customers at the Foxley Hatch who have made it such a wonderful pub. We appreciate our staff’s dedication and hard work and our customers’ loyalty.”

Wetherspoons has not confirmed exactly how many staff will be impacted by the closure. However, it confirmed that no staff will be made redundant and all have been offered roles at other Wetherspoons sites nearby.

The Foxley Hatch was put up for sale just over a year ago and at the time the pub group said the site would continue to trade until a sale had gone through however it is uncertain as to whether the pub will reopen under a different brand or business. According to reports from Inside Croydon, a buyer has been found, and the site will be taken over "in due course" by a “micro pub” however this has yet to be confirmed officially.

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Is your local Wetherspoon closing? Let us know: [email protected]

At the time of the sale announcement, the popular pub chain said it was set to sell off around 30 of its sites. Wetherspoons reiterated that the move was a commercial decision" adding that it was a "misinterpretation" to suggest the move was down to difficult trading conditions. The chain said that " almost all" of the pubs closing their doors were in areas where there was another Wetherspoon site nearby.

In its July trading update this year, the pub chain said it had already sold 28 sites this year and a further 22 were still on the market. Of the sold pubs, 15 had a lease expire or the company exercised its "break clause" - this allowed both Wetherspoon and the landlord to end the tenancy early.

Ruby Flanagan