Breakfast boost for Wetherspoon

Opening its pubs at 7am in order to sell more breakfasts helped JD Wetherspoon post a 4 per cent increase in sales for the year to the end of July, it said yesterday. The pubs group said it had managed to buck the downwards trend in the sector with an aggressive programme of new openings and an expansion of its traditional services.

Its opening of 47 new pubs last year, taking the estate to 775, was the main driver in its increased sales over the year. However, the move into the breakfast market, which was stepped up in April, has had a big impact in recent months, JD said.

Wetherspoon now sells more breakfasts than anyone in the UK except McDonalds and is No 3 in the coffee market behind Starbucks and Costa.