"The stock market-listed group, which owns a small number of pubs in Ireland, has been eyeing locations in Spain for its debut on the Continent. The new ventures will typically be operated on a franchise basis, following the success of franchise partnerships the group has in the UK with universities and a holiday parks firm. The first premises on the Continent is due to open next year."
"A spokesman for JD Wetherspoon, which operates a total of about 800 pubs, confirmed that the pubs company will now use a newly established subsidiary in Dublin to launch its business in mainland Europe. 'Given our current plans for a number of franchise sites in Europe, it is more straightforward if the agreements are between EU-based companies and JD Wetherspoon Europe has been set up [in Dublin] as a result,' he said."
JD Wetherspoon plans to expand onto the Continent, targeting Spain, with new outlets operated mainly under franchise agreements and the first site due to open next year. The company established a Dublin subsidiary to make franchise agreements more straightforward with EU-based partners because UK-EU trade now faces significant post-Brexit barriers. Founder Tim Martin strongly campaigned for Brexit and donated large sums to the Leave campaign. JD Wetherspoon opened its first Irish pub in 2014 and later operated several locations in Cork, Carlow, Waterford and Dublin, selling some properties in 2022–2023 while retaining five pubs in Dublin.
Read at Irish Independent
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