REDDITCH’S JD Wetherspoon The Rising Sun has been put up for sale by the popular pub chain.
It comes as JDW announced it had appointed CBRE and Savills to sell 32 of its ale houses across the country, including the one in the town.
The pub has appeared in the Good Beer Guide several times over the past few years and is highly thought of among real ale drinkers from the town and further afield.
Gez Quinn, chair of Redditch and Bromsgrove Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), said: “I heard this morning and was very surprised as it is a popular place.
“Of course the company does also have The Royal Enfield (Lloyds Bar) in the town so maybe it is slimming down but of the two we get more good reports from our members about The Rising Sun.
“This will be a big loss to the centre of Redditch, especially when it comes to its offering of real and cask ales.
“A move like this doesn’t look good for the town and the future of its pubs.”
Wetherspoon spokesman Eddie Gershon said: “We can confirm that Wetherspoon has put The Rising Sun, Redditch, on the market.
“On occasion Wetherspoon does put some of its pubs up for sale.
“This is a commercial decision.
“We understand that customers and staff will be disappointed with it.”
He added the pub would continue operating as a Wetherspoon until it had been sold.
We reported three weeks ago how RB CAMRA was concerned for the future of pubs in Redditch and Bromsgrove after research by The Morning Advertiser led to a prediction that three-quarters of pubs ‘would not make it through the winter’.
More than 60 per cent had seen their utility bills increase by 100 per cent, 30 per cent reported a 200 per cent rise and eight per cent said theirs had gone up by 500 per cent.
The 32 pubs which have been put up for sale
Barnsley – Silkstone Inn
Beaconsfield – Hope & Champion
Bexleyheath – Wrong ‘Un
Bournemouth – Christopher Creeke
Cheltenham – Bank House
Durham – Water House
Halifax – Percy Shaw
Hanham – Jolly Sailor
Harrow – Moon on the Hill
Hove – Cliftonville Inn
London Battersea – Asparagus
London East Ham – Miller’s Well
London Eltham – Bankers Draft
London Forest Gate – Hudson Bay
London Forest Hill – Capitol
London Hornsey – Toll Gate
London Holborn – Penderel’s Oak
London Islington – Angel
London Palmers Green – Alfred Herring
Loughborough – Moon & Bell
Loughton – Last Post
Mansfield – Widow Frost
Middlesborough – Resolution
Purley – Foxley Hatch
Redditch – Rising Sun
Sevenoaks – Sennockian
Southampton – Admiral Sir Lucius Curtis
Stafford – Butler’s Bell
Watford – Colombia Press
West Bromwich – Billiard Hall
Willenhall – Malthouse
Wirral – John Masefield
Full details of the properties are available at www.jdwdisposals.co.uk
