JD Wetherspoon is continuing to update its product range, removing items such as French Champagne and German wheat beer.
In a pre-close trading statement published today, it says it is replacing these products, respectively, with sparkling wine from the UK and Australia, and UK and American wheat beers.
In the statement, chairman Tim Martin says: “Huge progress has been made in leaving the EU: the referendum has taken place; the manifestos of the main parties, respecting the result, were endorsed in the general election; Article 50 was triggered; and the sensible decision was taken to allow legal EU migrants to stay post-Brexit.
“Unsurprisingly, the prime minister has run into difficulties by making the mistake of prioritising a ‘deal’ with
the unelected EU representatives, which they have little incentive to accommodate, rather than a sensible
implementation of Brexit in areas under the control of parliament.
“99% of the benefits of leaving the EU — including the avoidance of vast financial contributions, the elimination
of tariffs and the reacquisition of fishing rights — need no agreement from any third party. The prime minister
can avoid most current problems by prioritising these areas.”
For the ten weeks to July 8, like-for-like sales increased by 5.2% and total sales by 5.6%. In the year to date
(49 weeks to July 8) like-for-like sales increased by 5.2% and total sales by 4.2%.
