Brexit: Tim Martin’s JD Wetherspoon announces £13m investment in EU

The chain is ploughing €15m into developing a new pub and 98-bedroom hotel in Dublin city centre, which will create 200 new jobs in the Republic of Ireland

Since the Brexit vote, chairman Tim Martin has accused the EU of bullying the UK (Rex)

JD Wetherspoon, headed by vocal Brexit-backing chairman Tim Martin, has announced its biggest ever single investment – into the European Union.

The pub chain will plough €15m (£13.2m) into developing a new pub and 98-bedroom hotel in Dublin city centre, which will create 200 new jobs in the Republic of Ireland.

Development work at the site, currently a row of derelict properties in Camden Street, will begin in February 2018, with the pub and hotel set to open early 2019.

Since the Brexit vote, Mr Martin has accused the EU of bullying the UK and used several company updates to rip into German Chancellor Angela Merkel, former French president François Hollande and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

He has also lashed out at former Chancellor George Osborne, the International Monetary Fund, the Bank of England, the Confederation of British Industry, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and PricewaterhouseCoopers, who he claims were too negative about the impact of a Leave vote.

But announcing the investment on Monday, he said of the Dublin site: “We are looking forward to developing the site into a fantastic pub and hotel.

“It will be the biggest single investment undertaken by Wetherspoon and will result in our largest hotel alongside a superb pub.

“Our pubs in the Republic of Ireland are thriving and we are confident that the pub and hotel will be a great asset to Dublin and act as a catalyst for other businesses to invest in the city.”

Press Association