traded as lse jdw industry hospitality industry founded 1979 founder tim martin headquarters watford united kingdom number of locations 956 pubs 1 key people tim martin chairman john hutson ceo products public houses and hotels revenue 1 513.9 million 2015 2 operating income 112.5 million 2015 2 profit 44.8 million 2015 2 number of employees 35 000 2016 3 website www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk j d wetherspoon plc branded as wetherspoon and popularly known as wetherspoons is a pub chain in great britain and ireland with its headquarters in watford . founded in 1979 by tim martin the company owns just under 1 000 outlets . the chain s pubs offer cask ale low prices long opening hours and no music . the company also operates the lloyds no. 1 chain of bars as well as wetherspoon hotels . the chain is known for converting unconventional premises into pubs . premises tend to be large by british pub standards and use an open plan layout . 4 the company is listed on the london stock exchange and is a constituent of the ftse 250 index . contents 1 history 2 food and drink 3 properties and operations 4 people 5 references 6 external links history edit the rochester castle stoke newington tim martin opened his first pub in 1979 on colney hatch lane in muswell hill north london . 5 many of the other early wetherspoon pubs were also in the western part of haringey . the j d wetherspoon name comes from one of martin s teachers in new zealand who could not control his class . 6 7 8 martin chose the name when he was running his first pub in muswell hill . i decided to call it wetherspoon s after a former teacher not because the teacher in question at my primary school in new zealand had said i would never make it as some people think but because he was too nice a fellow to be running our particular class and he couldn t control it . so i thought i can t control the pub he couldn t control the class so i ll name it after him . 9 in the early 1990s wetherspoon began a policy of routinely selling off its smaller or less profitable outlets often but not always replacing them with larger premises close by . there are now around 100 ex wetherspoon pubs and none of the earliest outlets in the chain are still part of the estate . the oldest surviving wetherspoon is the rochester castle in stoke newington opened in 1983 . 10 in 1998 wetherspoon introduced oversized glasses and promoted the full pint . 11 this initiative was soon withdrawn supposedly because customers were still asking for top ups but arguably because other pub chains did not follow its lead . 12 in 2015 wetherspoon was made to pay a total of 24 000 for direct racial discrimination to eight individuals who were refused admittance to one of its pubs in north london based on what a judge described as the stereotypical assumption that irish travellers and english gypsies cause disorder wherever they go . 13 food and drink edit wetherspoon claimed to be the only large pub firm which opens all its pubs early in the morning serving breakfast and coffee as well as a full food menu into the evening . 14 weekly food promotions include mexican monday steak club tuesday wing it wednesday chicken club curry club thursday and fish friday . the sunday club traditional sunday roasts promotion was dropped in march 2016 . 15 wetherspoon hosts two ale festivals in march april and october each year when a larger range of guest ales is available in each pub and a cider festival in the summer . 16 properties and operations edit beckett s bank in leeds its name reflecting the building s former use the picturedrome in liverpool a converted cinema many wetherspoon pubs are conversions of existing buildings including theatres and cinemas the playhouse colchester ; opera house tunbridge wells ; the capitol forest hill ; coronet holloway ; prince of wales cardiff ; the salt cot saltcoats ; the picture palace enfield ; the regal cinema rochdale ; the hippodrome march ; the plaza rugeley ; the capitol dundee banks the crosse keys city of london ; bankers draft sheffield ; the twelve tellers preston ; the standing order derby ; the standing order edinburgh ; the standing order southampton ; becketts bank leeds ; the moon and sixpence hatch end ; the counting house congleton ; the counting house glasgow post offices the wheeping ash st neots ; the penny black bicester ; last post paisley southend ; loughton ; humphrey bean tonbridge ; the narrows abingdon ; the arnold machin newcastle under lyme stone ; the harlequin huntingdon ; the last post beeston ; the william webb ellis twickenham ; the postal order blackburn . swimming pools swim inn & rawson spring sheffield churches the church house wath upon dearne ; chapel an gansblydhen bodmin ; the west kirk ayr ; the black bull inn bangor ; the earl of zetland grangemouth consequently many wetherspoon properties are listed buildings . 17 there are wetherspoon bars in the passenger terminals of many uk airports such as robin hood airport london gatwick london stansted and london heathrow and in several main railway stations including london victoria london liverpool street london cannon street leeds and liverpool lime street . 18 in 2013 the chain opened its 900th pub . 1 wetherspoon pioneered non smoking areas in pubs even before the smoking health and social care scotland act 2005 and the health act 2006 in england and wales introduced smoking bans in public houses and started converting some of its pubs to completely non smoking in 2005 before introducing a complete ban in 2006 . 19 20 the first wetherspoon s pub in ireland was the spinning mule in ballymena county antrim in northern ireland which opened in 2000 . the republic of ireland s first wetherspoon pub the three tun tavern opened in blackrock county dublin in 2014 . 21 22 23 in 2014 wetherspoon controversially opened a pub at the beaconsfield motorway service area on the m40 . 24 wetherspoon also owns a chain of hotels in the uk . as of 2015 there are 34 hotels in england wales and scotland . in 2014 it was reported that the company would open a pub and 100 room hotel in camden street dublin ireland . 25 in 2015 wetherspoon bought the grade ii listed art deco state cinema in grays essex which had been under threat of damage from vandalism and water ingress for a number of years . 26 every wetherspoon pub has a unique carpet drawing on the location building and name . they are produced by axminster carpets and having more than the usual six colours have to be partially handmade on old fashioned looms costing up to 30 000 twice as much as stock designs . 27 mags thomson 66 from livingston scotland has visited every wetherspoon in great britain from 1994 to october 2015 when she had visited 972 including 80 that have subsequently closed . 28 people edit john hutson is the chief executive with total annual renumeration of 758 000 in 2009 consisting of a 364 000 base salary and a 394 000 bonus plus other income . 29 references edit a b jd wetherspoon to open 900th pub next week . retrieved 24 march 2014 . a b c annual results 2015 pdf . j d wetherspoon . retrieved 16 april 2016 . j d wetherspoon pubs & hotels our people . jdwetherspoon.co.uk . retrieved 16 april 2016 . martin tim 14 september 2012 . good news britain we re putting the pub in public . the daily telegraph . london . refurb for tim martin s first outlet . property news . morning advertiser . retrieved 2010 02 26 . refurb for tim martin s first outlet morning advertiser 1 september 2005 the real pub landlord the observer 3 march 2002 the real pub landlord business the observer . london guardian . 3 march 2002 . retrieved 2010 02 26 . i ll tell you what s wrong with wetherspoon s it s run by a man named tim will self new statesman 1 march 2013 indicia www.indicia.com 1983 05 01 . the rochester castle our pubs . j d wetherspoon . retrieved 2010 02 26 . the investment column wetherspoon dips in growth glitch . business news . london the independent . 1998 03 11 . retrieved 2010 02 26 . full pint issue 6 . camra north london . 2002 08 28 . archived from the original on june 4 2008 . retrieved 2010 02 26 . pub chain pays damages over traveller race bias . london evening standard . 18 may 2015 . p. 10 . wetherspoon toasts record sales . bbc news . 11 september 2009 . retrieved 1 december 2009 . quality food great value food menu j d wetherspoon . jdwetherspoon.co.uk . retrieved 3 april 2015 . wetherspoons spring festival focuses on british hops . cask marque . 2 february 2015 . retrieved 16 april 2016 . woodger andrew 2 july 2010 . suffolk to get wetherspoon s pub . bbc news . first look see inside the new 2 million north western pub at lime street . liverpool echo . 3 july 2015 . retrieved 16 april 2016 . wetherspoon pubs ban smoking . bbc news . 24 january 2005 . retrieved 2 june 2008 . tran mark 24 january 2005 . wetherspoon pubs to ban smoking . guardian.co.uk . london . retrieved 2 june 2008 . open for business wetherspoon s first irish pub serves its first customers . the journal . 8 july 2014 . retrieved 8 july 2014 . ciar n hancock june 30 2014 . guinness pulled from menu at wetherspoon s blackrock pub . the irish times . video first look inside ireland s first wetherspoon pub . independent.ie . retrieved 3 april 2015 . jd wetherspoon opens first motorway pub . the independent . retrieved 3 april 2015 . jd wetherspoon to open hotel bar at homeless hostel in dublin . the irish times . 15 december 2014 . state cinema set to become a wetherspoons pub . thurrock gazette . 22 january 2015 . retrieved 16 april 2016 . the secret life of wetherspoon s freaky carpets the guardian 10 january 2016 http www.bbc.co.uk news magazine 34440109 john hutson executive profile & biography . businessweek . mcgraw hill . retrieved 23 august 2009 . external links edit media related to j d wetherspoon at wikimedia commons official website v t e food chains in the united kingdom casual dining angus steakhouse ask beefeater grill bella italia brewers fayre byron hamburgers caf rouge carluccio s chiquito damon s ed s easy diner frankie & benny s giraffe gourmet burger kitchen harry ramsden s harvester hungry horse la tasca little chef loch fyne restaurants nando s ok diner pizza hut pizzaexpress prezzo strada table table taybarns t.g.i. friday s toby carvery tony roma s wagamama wahaca wildwood kitchen zizzi fast food barburrito burger king chicken cottage chipotle mexican grill dixy chicken domino s pizza five guys kfc mcdonald s morley s papa john s pizza sam s chicken sbarro southern fried chicken subway taco bell tops pizza tortilla wasabi wimpy yo sushi baked goods auntie anne s cinnabon cooplands ditsch dunkin donuts eat greggs krispy kreme millie s cookies patisserie valerie pret a manger sayers spudulike upper crust the west cornwall pasty company coffee shops and tea rooms amt coffee betty s caff nero caff ritazza coffee 1 coffee republic costa coffee harris hoole starbucks dairy baskin robbins ben & jerry s kaspa s shakeaway pub chains all bar one chef & brewer o neill s scream pubs slug and lettuce