Wetherspoon announces drop down in sales after third lockdown

Pub giant JD Wetherspoon will report a dramatic fall in sales during the key festive period, as a result of the curtailment of Coronavirus.

Late last year, chairman and founder Tim Martin castigated the company for its "baffling and confusing" coronavirus limits as Wetherspoon reported a 27.6% drop in first quarter sales for the 15 weeks to 8 November.

At this time, all UK locations of the budget pub group have been closed due to the closure in November.

With more locks-outs and tiered restrictions in place all over the country over recent months, the sector, which accounts for five million jobs and contributes £130billion to the economy, has been asked to make short-term remedies on occasion.

In November it said it expected to incinerate £14 million for every month its pubs remain closed to customers all over the country.

Sales will continue to slump following the lockdown introduced since November, when the government shut 366 of its 872 pubs in early December, after pubs in tier 3 failed to serve diners.

As of the end of this month, all the pub company locations had fallen into Tier 3 and Tier 4 areas and had consequently to close.

Emma Lou Montgomery, associate director for personal investments at Fidelity International, said shareholders would have questions about when Wetherspoon could get back into profit once the stores reopened because of the impact of the restrictions.