JDW disposal finds

buyers beckoning Property agent Fleurets has revealed "substantial interest" from potential buyers in the 17 JD Wetherspoon pubs put up for sale last month. Bidders have until 21 May to submit offers for the 12 freehold and five leasehold sites, all but two of which are located in either the Midlands or the north. The sale is the largest disposal made by Wetherspoon in a bid to offload bottom-end suburban pubs. The houses earmarked for sale are all trading in excess of 1,000 barrels per year, but have not achieved Wetherspoon's benchmark average sales of £27,000 per week. Details of the package have been circulated throughout the trade to some 150 potential buyers by Fleurets, but no price guide has been made public. All the pubs have remained open and trading during the bidding period. Meanwhile, Wetherspoon has opened its most northerly outlet ­ the Alexander Bain in Wick ­ around 100 miles north of the next nearest outlet, the King's Highways at Inverness. The £1.4m Alexander Bain is a former post office. Wick has a population of 8,000.