You might find one on every other corner, but Wetherspoon pubs have been closing at a surprisingly high rate: 35 were up for sale last Autumn. Hit by rising food and drink prices, energy bill hikes and the wider ramifications of the cost of living crisis, it’s safe to say that the ubiquitous British high street chain has struggled in recent years.
The closure of affordable pubs – from Swindon and Shipley to Bournemouth and Battersea – further squeezes people in a time of serious financial hardship. ‘It’s tragic really,’ says Jamie Brassington, about the recent closure of The Billiard Hall, a Wetherspoons in West Bromwich. ‘It was a community hub, a lot of people rely on it to meet their friends and get out of the house.
