Wetherspoons: who owns it, who runs it and what the accounts show
J D Wetherspoon PLC is owned by its shareholders: as a listed company it has no single person with significant control on the register. In the year to July 2026 it reported turnover of £2,238m.
- In the year to July 2026, Wetherspoons had turnover of £2,238m, up 5.2% on the year before.
- It made a pre-tax profit of £78m, keeping £3.47 of every £100 of sales.
- It employed an average of 42,409 people, with staff costs of £892m.
- J D Wetherspoon PLC is listed on the stock market, so it is owned by its shareholders.
- These figures are from J D Wetherspoon PLC's group accounts for the year to July 2026, filed at Companies House on 30 October 2026.
- Registered name
- J D WETHERSPOON PLC
- Company number
- 01709784
- Status
- Active
- Incorporated
- 25 March 1983
- Registered office area
- Watford
- Industry code on the register
- 56302: Food and beverage service activities
- Accounts
- Group accounts, covering the companies it owns
- Accounts type
- Full accounts
- Latest accounts
- Year to July 2026, filed 30 October 2026
What does Wetherspoons do?
Wetherspoon runs pubs in the UK and Ireland serving low-priced food and drink, and also runs a number of hotels. It is known for keeping prices low, serving food all day and converting large old buildings such as banks and cinemas into pubs. It manages its pubs directly rather than letting them to tenants. Tim Martin opened the first pub in north London in 1979, and J D Wetherspoon plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
In brief: pub chain · low-priced food and drink · company-managed pubs and hotels · listed
Source: Spark Intel editorial, checked 24 September 2026. Official website: jdwetherspoon.com.
Who owns Wetherspoons?
J D Wetherspoon PLC, company number 01709784, has no person with significant control on the register. That is normal for a company whose shares trade on a regulated market: ownership sits with the shareholders who hold the shares at any given time.
The full ownership record is on the Companies House register. Control is given in the bands the register uses, not as exact shareholdings.
Who runs Wetherspoons?
The Companies House register lists 10 current officers for J D Wetherspoon PLC.
All 10 current officers
| Officer | Appointed |
|---|---|
| Timothy Randall Martin | |
| John David Hutson | 4 September 1996 |
| Debra Van Gene | 1 March 2006 |
| Nigel Connor | 18 December 2014 |
| Benjamin Newton Whitley | 12 November 2015 |
| Ben Thorne | 17 December 2020 |
| Hudson Simmons | 20 December 2021 |
| Deborah Jayne Whittingham | 20 December 2021 |
| James Ullman | 4 May 2022 |
| John Anthony Herring | 12 January 2026 |
Every current officer, with appointment dates, is on the Companies House register.
What did Wetherspoons file?
J D Wetherspoon PLC reported turnover of £2,238m in the year to July 2026. That was up 5.2% on £2,128m the year before.
It reported 42,409 employees. The year before it reported 42,081.
It filed a pre-tax profit of £78m for the year, against a pre-tax profit of £89m the year before.
Staff costs came to £892m. That is an average of £21,000 a head. It ended the year with £53m at the bank and net assets of £337m. It paid dividends of £13m.
| Measure | Jul 2026 | Jul 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Turnover | £2,238m | £2,128m |
| Pre-tax profit | £78m (filed) | £89m (filed) |
| Employees | 42,409 | 42,081 |
| Staff costs | £892m | £842m |
| Average staff cost per head | £21,000 | £20,000 |
| Bank and cash | £53m | £39m |
| Net assets | £337m | £362m |
| Dividends paid | £13m | £19m |
| Interest paid | £63m | |
| Interest received | £1.0m | |
| Directors' pay | £3m |
Read the accounts to July 2026 (PDF, Companies House) · every accounts filing
What do these figures mean? Turnover vs profit · Profit per £100 · Cash vs profit · Net assets
Are there any charges against Wetherspoons?
J D Wetherspoon PLC has registered 26 charges at Companies House, of which 4 are still outstanding. A charge is security a lender takes over a company's assets; one is satisfied when the lending behind it is repaid or released.
All 4 outstanding charges
| Charge holder | Created |
|---|---|
| Hsbc Corporate Trustee Company (UK) Limited (and Its Successors in Title and Permitted Transferees) | 6 June 2024 |
| Hsbc Corporate Trustee Company (UK) Limited (and Its Successors in Title and Permitted Transferees) | 4 February 2019 |
| Lloyds Tsb Bank PLC | 24 September 2011 |
| East Hertfordshire District Council | 26 January 2007 |
Each charge, with its holder and dates, is on the Companies House register.
How Wetherspoons compares
Of the 8 pub groups, Wetherspoons is 3rd on turnover, 4th on profit margin and 3rd on growth. Mitchells & Butlers keeps the most of every £100 of sales: £8.78.
| Rank | Pub groups | Turnover | Profit per £100 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Mitchells & Butlers | £2,711m | £8.78 |
| 3rd | Wetherspoons | £2,238m | £3.47 |
| + 6 more pub groups ranked |
Ranked by turnover. Profit per £100 is pre-tax profit for every £100 of turnover, shown only where the profit is filed.
Wetherspoons files as J D Wetherspoon PLC, with turnover of £2,238m in its latest filed year.
Questions about Wetherspoons
What does Wetherspoons do?
Wetherspoon runs pubs in the UK and Ireland serving low-priced food and drink, and also runs a number of hotels. It is known for keeping prices low, serving food all day and converting large old buildings such as banks and cinemas into pubs. It manages its pubs directly rather than letting them to tenants. Tim Martin opened the first pub in north London in 1979, and J D Wetherspoon plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Is Wetherspoons bigger than Greene King?
No, by turnover. Wetherspoons reported £2,238m in its latest accounts, against £2,539m at Greene King. Our Greene King v Wetherspoons page compares the two on profit, margin, growth and staff. Greene King v Wetherspoons →
How does Wetherspoons compare with its rivals?
By turnover, Wetherspoons is 3rd of the 8 companies in our battle of the pub groups, behind Mitchells & Butlers. The battle ranks them on turnover, pre-tax profit, margin, growth and net assets. The battle of the pub groups →
Who owns Wetherspoons?
J D Wetherspoon PLC is owned by its shareholders. As a listed company it is exempt from the register of people with significant control, so no single owner appears at Companies House.
How much does Wetherspoons make?
J D Wetherspoon PLC reported turnover of £2,238m in the year to July 2026. It filed a pre-tax profit of £78m.
How many people work at Wetherspoons?
J D Wetherspoon PLC reported 42,409 employees in the year to July 2026.
Who runs Wetherspoons?
The Companies House register lists 10 current officers for J D Wetherspoon PLC. The full list, with appointment dates, is on the Companies House register.
- Figures come from J D Wetherspoon PLC's filings at Companies House, company number 01709784, for the period shown at the top of the page.
- These are group accounts: they include the companies it owns.
- Pre-tax profit is the figure the company filed, for both years.
- A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d. A zero in the filing is treated as not disclosed, never as nil.
- Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, from £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, from £2m to the nearest million.
- Ownership is shown in the control bands the register of people with significant control uses, not as exact shareholdings.
- Officers' names and appointment dates come from the Companies House register. Job titles come from the company's own website. The description of what the company does comes from its website, or is marked Spark Intel editorial where it is written from stable, checked facts, with the date either way.
Spark Intel, “Wetherspoons: who owns it, who runs it and what the accounts show”, updated 6 November 2026. https://www.spark-intel.co.uk/companies/wetherspoons/. Figures from Companies House filings for J D WETHERSPOON PLC (01709784).
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