Pub chain JD Wetherspoon has warned annual losses will be bigger than expected after ramping up wages to attract staff and spending heavily on repairs and marketing.
The group said it is now expecting losses of around £30m for the year to the end of July after investing in staff and the business to “strengthen our position” for the new financial year.
Wetherspoon said although sales were now matching pre-pandemic levels, staff costs were far higher than pre-Covid as firms across the sector have had to hike wages to overcome recruitment difficulties. It added it was now “with minor exceptions, fully staffed”.
