Wetherspoons to close city centre pub after 30 years as sad punters say ‘it's the end of an era'
Punters were left gutted after hearing that the fan favourite boozer in Preston, would be going on the market.
2
2
The Grey Friar, which opened in the 1990s, has now been put up for sale, announced Wetherspoon.
The popular Spoons boozer was a staple of the local area and will remain open until sold.
A spokesperson said that it will remain trading as a Wetherspoon pub until it is sold and that there will be no redundancies made.
He added that, when the establishment is sold, staff will be offered jobs at other pubs in the chain.
The Grey Friar was named after Franciscan monks, who founded a nearby friary in the early 13th century.
This is also the namesake of Friargate, the street on which the boozer stands.
Thankfully for Wetherspoons fans, there is another branch in the city centre, the Twelve Tellers on Church Street.
But locals were still devastated by the move with many losing their favourite boozer in town, commonly known as 'Greyfriars' to many.
Many took to social media to weigh in with their opinions after the closure was announced.
One wrote: "Happy memories starting our Friday nights in Greyfriars… it will be missed!!"
Another said: "Oh my goodness! Me and my bf often start an evening out in here, have tea and move on from here into town.
"We sometimes go for breakfast too."
Inside Wetherspoons huge new pub - it's a hidden gem 'off the beaten track' and has a major pricing difference
A third commented: "Flipping heck if Wetherspoons is closing …. Preston reallly is doomed."
Another wrote: "There will be many dissapointed customers."
It comes as a wave of closures have hit UK pubs recently, figures published by the British Beer and Pub Association revealed around six pubs closed every week.
The trade body found 289 boozers served last orders for the final time in 2024 across England and Wales.
The data, released in April, suggested that with the closure of six boozers a week came the loss of 4,500 jobs.
With employer National Insurance contributions being hiked with the minimum wage, more pubs are expected to shut this year too.
To cope with the increased running costs pubs are forced to increase their prices.
Wetherspoon also exclusively revealed to The Sun in January it had increased the price of a host of drinks and meal deals by up to 30p.
Prices on drinks were hiked by 15p, while meal deals were increased by 30p.
Wetherspoons said a number of drinks, though, had not gone up in price including all draught lagers like Budweiser, Carling and Coors.
Boss Tim Martin said the pub chain had "tried to remain as competitive as possible" with its pricing.
How can I save money at Wetherspoons?
FREE refills - Buy a £1.50 tea, coffee or hot chocolate and you can get free refills. The deal is available all day, every day.
Check a map - Prices can vary from one location the next, even those close to each other.
So if you're planning a pint at a Spoons, it's worth popping in nearby pubs to see if you're settling in at the cheapest.
Choose your day - Each night the pub chain runs certain food theme nights.
For instance, every Thursday night is curry club, where diners can get a main meal and a drink for a set price cheaper than usual.
Pick-up vouchers - Students can often pick up voucher books in their local near universities, which offer discounts on food and drink, so keep your eyes peeled.
Get appy - The Wetherspoons app allows you to order and pay for your drink and food from your table - but you don't need to be in the pub to use it.
Taking full advantage of this, cheeky customers have used social media to ask their friends and family to order them drinks. The app is free to download on the App Store or Google Play.
Check the date - Every year, Spoons holds its Tax Equality Day to highlight the benefits of a permanently reduced tax bill for the pub industry.
It usually takes place in September, and last year it fell on Thursday, September 14.
As well as its 12-day Real Ale Festival every Autumn, Wetherspoons also holds a Spring Festival.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
21 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Rachel Reeves says she cannot rule out autumn tax rises after ‘damaging' week
Rachel Reeves has said it is impossible for her to rule out tax rises in the autumn budget and insisted she never thought about quitting despite a turbulent week for her and the government. In an interview with the Guardian, the chancellor said 'there are costs' to the watering down of the welfare bill and acknowledged it had been a 'damaging' week for Downing Street. The chancellor's tears in the Commons on Wednesday spooked the financial markets and raised questions about her future in the job, but No 10 quickly weighed in behind her, saying she and the prime minister were in lockstep. Reeves said she had never considered resigning her position, despite being the focus of some Labour backbench anger over her handling of the economy, saying: 'I didn't work that hard to then quit.' She said she regretted going into prime minister's questions in tears after a 'tough day in the office' but hoped that people 'could relate' to her distress. 'It was a personal matter but it was in the glare of the camera. And that's unfortunate, but I think people have seen that I'm back in business and back out there,' she said. 'I went to prime minister's questions because I thought that was the right thing to do, because that's where I always am at lunchtime on a Wednesday. You know, in retrospect, I probably wished I hadn't gone in … [on] a tough day in the office. But, you know, it is what it is. But I think most people can relate to that – that they've had tough days.' Her challenging moment in parliament came in the same week that a backbench rebellion forced the government to drop key welfare cuts, which leaves Reeves with a £5bn black hole to fill in the country's finances. 'It's been damaging,' she admitted. 'I'm not going to deny that, but I think where we are now, with a review led by Stephen Timms [a work and pensions minister], who is obviously incredibly respected and has a huge amount of experience, that's the route we're taking now. 'That's the right thing to do. It is important that we listen in government, that we listen to our colleagues and listen to what groups outside are saying as well.' Timms is working with disability groups to reform the personal independent payments (Pip) system, which had been the target of government cuts until the huge backbench rebellion drove the government to drop them. Reeves said the government had learned lessons about bringing MPs and the country along with them in the run-up to what is widely expected to be a difficult budget this autumn ahead. 'As we move into the budget for the autumn, I do want to bring people into those trade-offs,' she said. Asked whether she was prepared to rule out tax rises, she said: 'I'm not going to, because it would be irresponsible for a chancellor to do that. We took the decisions last year to draw a line under unfunded commitments and economic mismanagement. So we'll never have to do something like that again. But there are costs to what happened.' While tax rises could be on the table, Reeves signalled that her fiscal rules would remain and that 'we'll continue to keep that grip on the public finances'. But she stressed the need to accompany this with a strong explanation of how the Treasury's choices fit with Labour values. 'I'm not going to apologise for making sure the numbers add up,' she said. 'But we do need to make sure that we're telling a story, and a Labour story. We did that well in the budget and the spending review, we increased taxes on the wealthiest and businesses. In the budget last year, I made it really clear that priorities in that budget were to protect working people, to invest in the NHS and to start rebuilding Britain.' Some within government and the Labour party have been pushing for either a reconsideration of the fiscal rules or rethinking the remit of the Office for Budget Responsibility, which produces two forecasts and rulings a year on whether the rules have been met. Asked whether she would consider one forecast instead of two, Reeves said: 'We are looking at how the OBR works, but I think it is really important to have those independent economic institutions, because if you start undermining those … and getting rid of the checks and balances on a government, I do think that is risky. But the International Monetary Fund have made some recommendations about how to deliver better fiscal policymaking. And obviously I take those seriously.' The IMF has suggested that while the OBR could still produce two forecasts, it could be possible to only have one annual assessment of whether the chancellor is hitting her fiscal rules. However, government sources suggested that any changes could be more along the lines of more regular exchange of information to reduce last-minute changes like those in the spring statement. Reeves also spoke of her drive to reduce child poverty but she would not be drawn on whether she would lift the two-child benefit cap. Keir Starmer has said the government 'will look at it' but experts have warned it could be more difficult given the hole left by the U-turn on the welfare cuts. The chancellor said she wanted to reduce child poverty but was 'not wedded to any specific policy', adding: 'I think people can see how serious I am about making sure that all good kids get a good start in life by what we did in the spending review just a few weeks ago.'
Reuters
22 minutes ago
- Reuters
Sterling heads for weekly loss as fiscal concerns loom
July 4 (Reuters) - Sterling was poised for a weekly loss on Friday, marking a lacklustre end to a week that saw fiscal and political uncertainties rattle investor appetite for UK assets. The pound was flat and last fetched $1.36, while against the euro it inched 0.1% lower and was last at 86.26 pence. Gilt yields were broadly steady in late morning trading. However, on a weekly basis, cable was down 0.4% against the greenback, while it had fallen about 1% against the euro, marking its biggest one-week drop against the currency since U.S. tariffs on world economies took effect in early April. UK stocks, bonds and cable witnessed a selloff earlier in the week, after the government's welfare reforms were not well received by ruling Labour Party members and stirred speculation about the future of finance minister Rachel Reeves. Some analysts even drew parallels between this week's market reaction and the rout during former Prime Minister Liz Truss' premiership in 2022. With the Keir Starmer-led government completing one year in power, uncertainties prevail over the options it has to balance public accounts. "There is speculation that given the difficulties the government has faced in finding savings from welfare budgets, tax rises are likely in the Autumn Budget," said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown. "Bets are rising that the Bank of England will cut interest rates more quickly with a reduction in August increasingly on the cards. So, that's kept a bit more downwards pressure on sterling." Traders expect the Bank of England to lower borrowing costs by 25 basis points next in September and are anticipating another interest rate cut by the same amount before the year ends, data compiled by LSEG showed. Further, top ratings agency S&P said the inability of Britain's government to make modest cuts to welfare spending this week underscores that it has very limited budgetary room to manoeuvre. Despite the week's developments, the pound is at a near four-year high against the dollar and is up about 9% so far this year, having benefited from broader dollar weakness and as a U.S.-UK trade deal offered some relief on the tariff front.
Reuters
22 minutes ago
- Reuters
Chelsea given huge fine for breach of financial rules
July 4 (Reuters) - Chelsea have been fined 31 million euros ($36.50 million) by UEFA for breaches of its financial rules, while Aston Villa, Barcelona and Olympique Lyonnais were also levied with large fines, UEFA announced on Friday. The punishments come with the potential for far harsher fines down the road, with Chelsea risking being hit with a further 60 million euros if they do not get their finances in order. Barcelona must pay a 15 million euro fine, with UEFA fining Lyon 12.5 million and Aston Villa five million. The teams agreed to settlement agreements which cover periods of two, three or four years, with the clubs' final targets to be fully compliant with the football earnings rule by the end of their specific settlement period. Additionally, Lyon agreed on an exclusion from the 2025/26 UEFA club competitions should the French authority (DNCG) confirm the club's relegation to Ligue 2. ($1 = 0.8493 euros)
