Wetherspoon’s history
1979
First Wetherspoon opens
The first pub, purchased from an entrepreneur who had converted it from a bookies, opens in Colney Hatch Lane, Muswell Hill, north London, on 9 December. For the first month, it was called Martin’s Free House, but was renamed Wetherspoons early in 1980.
1983
The early years
For the first few years, the company’s pubs were all located in north London, with the head office above The Dog, in Archway.
1990
First real-ale festival
Wetherspoon’s pubs host their first real-ale festival. It lasted four days and featured six beers (nowadays, each Wetherspoon pub is involved in the twice-yearly beer festival, offering up to 50 beers each, 10 of which are from overseas).
1991
Non-smoking pubs
The Tally Ho (North Finchley, London) opens with a dedicated non-smoking bar upstairs. This was the first of many pioneering initiatives which we carried out before the smoking ban of July 2007.
Cleanliness, Beer, Service
The company starts its CBS scheme, highlighting cleanliness, beer and service.
The scheme, still in operation, is aimed at ensuring that standards are always at the highest level as a result of inspections from head-office staff and senior management.
Wetherspoon News
The first edition of Wetherspoon News is produced. The eight-page black-and-white magazine was offered free to all customers.
Hamilton Hall opens
We open Hamilton Hall (Liverpool Street station, London) – our first pub in central London and at a train station.
1992
First airport pubs open
Wetherspoon opens its first two airport pubs – at Heathrow Airport, in Terminal 4.
Our pubs are now spread across several UK airports.
PLC!
The company is floated on the Stock Exchange and becomes J D Wetherspoon plc. The shares were issued at £1.60 – taking into account later share splits, the equivalent price today would be about 30p!
50th pub opens
The company opens its 50th pub – J.J. Moon’s (Chiswick, west London).
1993
Pub Chain of the Year
Recognition of the company and its pubs comes when it is named ‘pub chain of the year’ by the influential Good Pub Guide.
Spreading Out
The first pubs open outside of London – The Old Manor (Bracknell) and The Bell (Norwich).
All pubs get non-smoking areas
Wetherspoon goes one step further in offering the perfect pub, by introducing non-smoking areas in each of its pubs – a major change in the pub industry.
1994
Training centre opens
Staff training has always been high on the agenda, and the company opens its first dedicated training centre.
Wethercentre opens
The company’s head office moves from North Finchley to Watford, where it remains today.
100th pub opens
Wetherspoon opens its 100th pub, The Moon Under Water (Watford).
We reach the Midlands
The Square Peg (Birmingham), built on the site of a former department store, becomes the company’s first pub in the Midlands.
1995
First pub in Manchester opens
The people of Manchester can enjoy their first Wetherspoon pub, when The Moon under Water (Deansgate) opens in the city centre.
The pub, with approximately 930 square metres of customer space, entered The Guinness Book of Records as the largest pub in the UK.
1996
Welcome to Wales
We open our first pub in Wales, in Newport. It was originally called Wetherspoons and was later renamed The John Wallace Linton.
150th pub opens
Two milestones: the 150th pub opens – The Sun (Redhill); overall sales for the company reach £100 million for the first time.
First pub in Scotland
We open our first pub in Scotland – The Counting House (Glasgow).
1997
New house wine launched
Wetherspoon pubs introduce a new house wine – Fetzer Coldwater Creek from California – still popular in our pubs today.
200th pub opens
The Regal Moon (Rochdale) becomes the 200th Wetherspoon pub to open.
1998
Opening times
We open 20 pubs in one month (July 1998), including seven on the same day – our busiest opening period ever!
Meal deals launched
Wetherspoon launches the Curry Club®, Wetherspoon’s iconic curry night. Today, customers can still enjoy our pubs’ unrivalled selection of curries (together with a drink) at an unbeatable price.
The first hotel opens
Shrewsbury becomes the location for the company’s first hotel, when the 22-bedroom venue, The Shrewsbury Hotel, opens alongside the Wetherspoon pub in the Shropshire town.
300th pub opens
The Rodboro Buildings (Guildford), a former car factory, becomes the 300th Wetherspoon pub.
1999
Steak Club launched
Steak Out (the forerunner of today’s Steak Club®) was launched – a 10oz steak for £5.99, although no inclusive drink.
Our 20th birthday
We celebrate our 20th birthday.
2000
First Northern Ireland pub
The first Wetherspoon pub opens in Northern Ireland – The Spinning Mule (Ballymena).
400th pub opens
Wetherspoon opens its 400th pub
Pub Company of the Year!
The company is named Pub of Company of the Year (The Publican Awards) and also wins The Retailers’ Retailer of the Year award.
2001
500th pub opens
The 500th Wetherspoon pub opens – The Picture Palace (Enfield).
Fastest-growing UK company
Wetherspoon is recognised as the fastest-growing company in the UK and the 9th fastest-growing company in Europe (we are still growing!).
Loo of the Year for the first time
Wetherspoon has always taken great pride in the quality of its loos. In 2001, it was a multiaward-winner in the Loo of the Year awards (recognition for the high standards of our loos continues to this day, with hundreds of awards).
2002
Awarded the NITA Supreme Award
Wetherspoon wins the prestigious Supreme Award at the British Institute of Innkeeping Training Awards (NITAs) for the second successive year. Since then, we have been awarded a total of eight NITAs, recognising the quality of training provided at all levels.
CLIC Sargent
We begin our ongoing relationship with the charity CLIC Sargent (now called Young Lives vs Cancer). Our aim was to raise £500,000. The relationship is still going from strength to strength, with more than £24 million raised by our staff and customers.
600th pub opens
The 600th Wetherspoon pub opens – The Winter Gardens (Harrogate).
We start a breakfast revolution
Wetherspoon starts a breakfast revolution, opening all pubs for breakfast six days a week.
2005
World’s number-one seller of Pimm’s!
Our customers raise more than a glass of Pimm’s to celebrate the fact that Wetherspoon is officially the number-one seller of the drink in the world.
£1,000,000 raised for CLIC Sargent
We hit our £1-million target for CLIC Sargent (now called Young Lives vs Cancer), and the company sets another target: £2 million.
2006
Free Wi-Fi available
Customers enjoy free Wi-Fi in all pubs.
Named the ‘Most Responsible Managed Pub Chain’
Wetherspoon is named the ‘Most Responsible Managed Pub Chain’ in the Responsible Drinks Retailing Awards.
2007
Our first opera
Opera comes to one of our pubs as Opera House (Royal Tunbridge Wells) hosts the first opera in a Wetherspoon pub. The pub is closed for the occasion and returned to its original use; the three performances are a sell-out, becoming an annual event.
Wedding bells
The Knights Templar (Chancery Lane, London) is granted a wedding licence and hosts its first wedding (The pub closed in 2023).
2008
Brewers from Japan and USA invited to take part in our beer festival
From humble beginnings, the company-wide beer festival takes a new and exciting twist as we invite award-winning international brewers to come to the UK and brew their beers at UK breweries – to be served exclusively at the festival.
A new world record
Wetherspoon customers set a new Guinness World Record, when 17,540 of our customers attend the world’s largest-ever synchronised wine-tasting event – smashing the previous record by over 12,000 people!
Wetherspoon reaches 700 pubs
The Silkstone Inn (Barnsley) becomes the 700th pub.
2009
30th birthday
Wetherspoon celebrates its 30th birthday.
A great year is rewarded
It is a year full of awards – these include a Green Apple Award to recognise our commitment to the environment, plus an award for our food, as well as being included in a list of Britain’s Top 100 Employers (for the sixth consecutive year).
2010
Awarded Pub Company of the Year for the second time
Wetherspoon is, once again, named Pub Company of the Year at The Publican Awards.
2011
800th pub opens
The 800th pub opens – The Unicorn (Ripon), also a 32-bedroom hotel.
2012
Fish Friday launched
We launch our fourth club, still a favourite – ®Fish Friday – hand-battered cod or haddock, with chips and a drink.
2013
Over 250 pubs in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide
The company continues to receive recognition for the quality of its beer, with over 250 of its pubs, more than any other pub company, featured in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide.
900th pub opens
The 900th Wetherspoon pub opens – The Poulton Elk (Poulton-le-Fylde).
2014
First pubs opened in Ireland
In July, the first pub opens in Ireland – The Three Tun Tavern (Blackrock). It is followed by the second pub in December – The Forty Foot (Dún Laoghaire).
2015
New records
Annual sales exceed £1.5 billion; the company employs more than 35,000 staff.
Republic of Ireland
A further three pubs open in Ireland.
2016
Stay with us
We reach over 50 hotels and over 1,000 rooms.
Spoons Carpets
Spoons Carpets is published, revealing that the carpet in each pub is individually designed to reflect the history of the pub and local area.
2017
Download. Order. Enjoy.
The Wetherspoon app gives customers the ability to order and pay for their food and drinks on their phone and have them delivered to their table.
Pizza/straws/refills
Pizzas start to appear on the menu. Plastic straws are replaced with paper ones. The company introduces front-of-house self-service hot drinks machines, allowing customers to enjoy unlimited free refills on hot drinks.
Desert Island Discs
Tim Martin is a guest of Kirsty Young on Desert Island Discs.
2018
Social media
The company shuts down all of its social media accounts, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, citing the ‘current bad publicity surrounding social media, including the trolling of MPs and others’ as one of the reasons behind the move.
2019
40th birthday
Wetherspoon celebrates its 40th birthday.
2020
In March 2020, all pubs and hotels were closed for three months, owing to COVID-19 restrictions.
2021
Keavan’s Port Hotel (Dublin) opens. With 89 bedrooms, it is the largest hotel in the company.
2022
The first Wetherspoon franchise is granted, meaning that the University of Hull’s students’ union bar reopens as a Wetherspoon pub.
A regional craft beer programme commences, supporting 30 regional brewers.
2023
Newcastle University follows the University of Hull, entering into a franchise with Wetherspoon.
Wetherspoon commits to achieving net-zero emissions in the UK and Ireland by 2050 and, if possible, will reach this goal sooner.
Company fundraising for the charity Young Lives vs Cancer reaches £22 million.
2024
Tim Martin is knighted for services to business and hospitality.
A franchise deal with Haven holiday parks is announced, with the first pub opening in Primrose Valley Holiday Park, in Filey, North Yorkshire.
The Sustainable Restaurants Association awards Wetherspoon a three-star sustainability rating (the highest achievable).
The number of Wetherspoon pubs awarded the maximum food hygiene rating reaches 794 (99%).
