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J D Wetherspoon plc company history timeline

1979

Wetherspoon went public in 1979 and trades on the London Stock Exchange.

English-born, New Zealand-raised Timothy Martin was a 24-year-old graduate law student in London in 1979.

In 1979 Martin sold his apartment, which he had bought with a 100 percent mortgage.

Tim Martin opened his first pub in 1979 in Colney Hatch Lane in Muswell Hill, London.

1980

For the first month, it was called Martin’s Free House, but was renamed Wetherspoons early in 1980.

1981

In 1981, Martin opened his second pub in a former automobile showroom.

1983

By 1983 Wetherspoon, with four pubs, had become profitable, earning £180,000 in net profits.

1989

In addition, the passage in 1989 of the British Monopolies and Mergers commission-inspired Beer Orders brought limits on the number of pubs the national brewers were allowed to own.

1992

In 1992 Martin took Wetherspoon public, with a listing on the London Stock Exchange.

1996

In just four years, the company had nearly quadrupled its chain, topping 150 pubs by the end of 1996.

1998

By late 1998, the company had again doubled its number of pubs, topping 300 locations throughout the United Kingdom.

That year would prove somewhat difficult for Wetherspoon--in part because of Wetherspoon's own policy. Its "no-television" rule would cause the company to suffer badly during the weeks of the 1998 World Cup, as customers, in the grip of soccer fever, went elsewhere to view the popular sporting event; the company would not recover until late in the year.

2018

The firm — whose founder is a strong supporter of Brexit — replaced champagne with British sparkling wines and Australian wines on 9 July 2018.

2020

In mid-March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, the government advised the public to avoid areas like pubs, clubs, restaurants, and gyms.

For the year ending in July 2020, the company published a pre-tax loss of £34.1 million; the previous year, it reported a pre-tax profit of £102.5 million.

In October 2020, Wetherspoons reported its first loss in 36 years.

2021

In March 2021, Wetherspoons reaffirmed its expansion plans including 75 projects, comprising 18 new pubs and 57 significant extensions existing venues.

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Founded
1979
Company founded
Founders
John Hutson,Timothy Randall Martin,Ben Whitley
Company founders
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