JD Wetherspoon eyes expansion

• Wetherspoon plans to add to its Scottish estate, which numbers more than 70 pubs; it launched The Crossed Peels in Stirling last summer.
• Wetherspoon plans to add to its Scottish estate, which numbers more than 70 pubs; it launched The Crossed Peels in Stirling last summer.

PUB giant JD Wetherspoon aims to open a further 20 outlets in Scotland over the next five years.
The move is part of a wider expansion plan to open a total of 200 pubs across the UK and Republic of Ireland.
Wetherspoon, which currently operates more than 930 pubs, including more than 70 north of the border, said the £400 million investment will bolster its 34,000-strong workforce with a further 15,000 jobs, 900 of which will be in Scotland. The firm is due to open its latest Scottish pub – The John Fairweather in Cambuslang – this month.
Meanwhile, the pub firm said it has come to an agreement with Heineken to stock a range of its products in its UK and Republic of Ireland pubs.
It comes weeks after Wetherspoon announced it would de-list Heineken products from its estate.