A popular Essex pub that ‘disappointed’ the community when it closed two years ago has gone up for sale. Greene King’s Dick Turpin pub just south of Wickford, Essex, closed in July 2024.

The closure came as a disappointment to biker groups, who used the pub on the A127 as a meeting spot, and the pub’s many other locals. In 2025, it was reported that the pub could be brought back into use after Basildon Council agreed to Greene King’s plans for a change of use. The pub has remained vacant since then, but that might not be the case for much longer, as it is now up for sale on WTS Property Consultants’ website.

The agents say that the ground floor features a central bar, dining areas on either side, including a carvery station, and an indoor play area, with a total capacity for around 175 covers. Other facilities include customer toilets, a beer store, an office, a staff room, a large commercial kitchen, and multiple storage spaces.

The pub has a guide price of £950,000 plus VAT, with agents saying it will appeal to “restaurateurs, developers, builders and investors”. It also has alternate use potential, subject to obtaining the necessary consents.

Greene King, which has around 2,500 pubs, restaurants and hotels across England, Wales and Scotland, recently revealed plans to put around 150 of its pubs up for sale as part of a major shake-up of its estate.

The brewery giant, which also brews Greene King IPA, Old Speckled Hen and Belhaven beers, has identified around “300 managed sites that would be better served under different models”.

The firm expects roughly half of these – about 150 pubs – to be converted into leased, tenanted or franchise venues within its Pub Partners estate, with the remaining 150 sites to be evaluated for a potential sale.

Greene King also identified a small number of sites for closure, representing fewer than 2% of the managed estate, in line with the group’s typical annual activity.

Announcing the brewery’s annual results, Green King chief executive Nick Mackenzie said: “Long-term permanent reform from Government is essential to ensure that unprecedented costs do not hold back the enormous potential of the sector.”

Pubs grappling with rising costs will be able to stay open longer during this year’s World Cup as part of the Government’s efforts to offset pressure on the sector. The Treasury announced the special dispensation on Tuesday, alongside planned measures to allow boozers to open late for other big events such as Eurovision. The World Cup extension will enable pubs in England and Wales to stay open late without applying for a Temporary Event Notice for home nation games until 1am for quarter-finals, semi-finals and matches starting at or before 9pm.

Landlords will also be able to stay open until 2am for any quarter-finals that start at 10pm. The World Cup will kick off on June 11, and the first three of England’s matches in the group stage will begin at 9pm and 10pm. England and Scotland have also already qualified for dates in North America, however, meaning fixtures in the round of 32 won’t be available to watch in the UK until midnight or 2am.

Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland could also qualify for the tournament if they win their play-off fixtures.

Speaking during a statement in the House of Commons to announce the support package for business rates for pubs, Treasury Secretary Dan Tomlinson said: “I can also announce today that pubs and other licensed venues will be able to open until 1am or 2am depending on when the game starts for home nation games in the later stages of the men’s football World Cup this summer.

“And we will legislate to increase the number of temporary events notices for pubs and other hospitality venues, whether that is to help them screen World Cup games or other community and cultural events.”

However, the Liberal Democrat MP for Richmond Park, Sarah Olney, said people who were not football fans should also be catered to.

Ms Olney said: “We have a diverse and varied hospitality sector in my constituency of Richmond Park, and it supports lots of different communities, including those who don’t go to pubs – parents of young children, people who don’t drink, faith groups, dare I say it, people who don’t want to watch the football.

“And so they have different needs, they want to go to cafes, they want to go soft play centres. So why is the Government focusing this relief just on pubs?”

Mr Tomlinson replied: “(Ms Olney) may not wish to watch the football, that’s fine, that’s her decision.

“We’re also consulting, she’d be interested to know, on whether we can extend these longer licensing powers to other events. So she’ll have to let me know if there are other events that she would like to go and watch in a pub, and they can be part of the consultation.”

If you are a big fan of Wetherspoon, you’ll be sad to learn that they are about to axe 15 menu items over the following days.  

The festive menu was only rolled out in November, but popular items such as the Big Cheese Burger to the festive loaded chips, among others, will be removed from the menu at the start of the new year. Pub-goers now have only a short time left to enjoy the festive food on offer, as the limited-time range will leave Wetherspoon locations after December 31, 2025.

The menus at the different pub locations can vary, so make sure to check what is on offer at your local Wetherspoons. The Pub giant does not often adjust its menu throughout the year, with the Christmas limited-time offerings being the biggest shake-up.

So, if the festive menu is a highlight for you, now is the time to satisfy your final Christmas cravings with the giant profiterole dessert, the Five Gold Rings burger, and a variation of brie and cranberry paninis and pizzas, to name a few.

Wetherspoons confirmed to the Express that the Christmas menu won’t be available after New Year’s Eve.

A statement on Wetherspoon’s official website reads: “No need to book… just turn up and enjoy the festive offering. The Christmas menu is available from Wednesday, November 12, until Wednesday, December 31 (excluding Christmas Day).”

The full Christmas menu is as follows: 

• Sliced turkey breast and winter vegetables, £13.99 with soft drink, £15.52 with alcoholic drink
• The big cheese burger, £10.89 with soft drink, £12.42 with alcoholic drink
• Brie and bacon burger, £10.89 with soft drink, £12.42 with alcoholic drink
• Chicken and stuffing burger, £10.89 with soft drink, £12.42 with alcoholic drink
• The five gold rings burger, £10.89 with soft drink, £12.42 with alcoholic drink
• Mushroom and garlic burger, £10.89 with soft drink, £12.42 with alcoholic drink
• 12″ southern-fried chicken and stuffing wrap
• 10″ southern-fried chicken and stuffing wrap
• Festive loaded chips, £8.99
• Brie and garlic mushroom pizza, £10.34 with soft drink, £11.87 with alcoholic drink
• Chicken, stuffing, bacon and Brie pizza, £11.52 with soft drink, £13.05 with alcoholic drink
• Chicken, stuffing, bacon and cranberry panini
• Brie and cranberry panini
• Cookies and cream blondie, £5.58
• Giant profiterole, £5.58.

Pub bosses have begged Rachel Reeves to show some humanity as venues are forced to cut staff hours and increase prices. From April 2026, retail, hospitality and leisure relief will be replaced with two lower business rate multipliers for properties with rateable values below £500,000. The lower tax rates will be funded by a higher multiplier applied to all properties with a rateable value of £500,000 or above.

Mike Latim, 40, is general manager of the Jolly Gardeners in Wandsworth. He told The Express: “We’re already struggling as it is, trying to break even. It’s crazy.” He added: “I don’t understand why they can’t freeze it. It’s what’s killing businesses.” Customers are being put off by price increases and more are choosing to buy booze from shops and drink at home instead, Mr Latim said, specifying that he has noticed a 40% to 50% drop in punters, if not more.

He has not increased the price of his pints for three years, but will have no choice but to do so by 10p or 20p in 2026.

“I wish I could make it a 5p increase, but if I did that I wouldn’t be in business anymore,” the Londoner said.

“I’ve had to reduce staff hours staff in general, even opening times. It’s not viable to stay open anymore at lunchtime.

“The whole city’s changing. We’re not really getting younger drinkers, they’d rather go to the off-license and chill in their house.”

In three to five years, punters could be charged £10 for pints, Mr Latim said, as he has seen adding that he could see the price even increasing to £15.

When asked if the Government could be doing more to help, he said: “I can understand the whole [economic] situation, but I do feel they could be doing a lot more.”

But even if that assistance were forthcoming for the sector, the manager thinks the situation is “so bad it’s almost impossible to recover from”.

He added: “We’ll never be back to the same way it was 10 or 20 years ago.

“Nobody really wants to pay for the experiences of going to a pub anymore.”

Nayak Dey, 41, owns the Old Sergeant down the road.

Sitting at one of his venue’s tables, he said he will have to increase his prices next year by about 70p a pint.

Mr Dey said: “Prices go up and we lose customers.

“Instead of people having five pints, they’ll go down to having three pints.”

On whether he felt supported by the Government, the landlord said: “It’s a very tough time. They’re not helping us at all.”

The publican would like to see business rates reduced, or venues like his supplied with small business relief.

In January, Mr Dey said he would have to cut the hours he gives his staff.

“It’s going to be harder, tougher,” he said.

On what he would say to Ms Reeves were she at his bar, he said it “wouldn’t be very nice”.

Mr Dey added: “It’s just there’s no support. It’s common sense, you know. A little bit of humanity would be good.

“It’s really, really tough. It’s not easy going. I’ve been doing this all my life, hospitality anyway.”

He unfortunately knows no different, he said.

The Government announced on Budget day that business rates for permanently lower RHL business rates multipliers, which will benefit over 750,000 RHL properties, including the shops and pubs

The Budget says the Treasury is expanding the Supporting Small Business scheme to businesses that were eligible for the Retail, Hospitality, and Leisure Business Rates Relief scheme, “protecting independent pubs and shops as they transition to permanently lower tax rates”.

This additional support is worth £1.3billion, ministers added.

The Campaign for Real Ale said after Ms Reeves outlined her latest plans: “Pubs and breweries in England are facing big increases in their business rates bills from April 2026 as a result of decisions taken in the Chancellor’s recent Budget, together with a rates revaluation.”

British pubs are poised to raise the price of food and drinks after measures announced in the Autumn Budget, Brits have been warned. According to a new landlord survey commissioned by the British Institute of Innkeeping, 90% of the 205 respondents said they would increase drinks prices.

Another 71% said they would increase food prices, 45% planned to cut opening hours, and 41% might cut services. The survey was conducted after Rachel Reeves Autumn Budget, and ahead of a raft of new business rate tax increases next year. A spokesperson said last week’s responses have “just been devastating” compared to previous member surveys.

From April 2026, retail, hospitality and leisure relief will be replaced with two lower business rate multipliers for properties with rateable values below £500,000. The lower tax rates will be funded by a higher multiplier applied to all properties with a rateable value of £500,000 or above.

To help the businesses facing the more significant bill hikes from this measure, the Government will be implementing a ‘Transitional Relief’ to cap the amount that bills increase as part of a £4.3billion support package.

But according to UKHospitality, the move will still see an average pub pay £12,900 more in business rates over three years, with rates climbing by 76%. A firm’s rateable value is based on the cost of renting its property for a year and is used to calculate a business’s rates bill.

Ms Reeves also announced an inflation-linked rise in alcohol duty and another increase in the National Living Wage.

In April, the hourly wage for workers aged 21 and above will increase by 50p to £12.71. Workers aged 18-20 will see an 85p increase to £10.85, while those under 18 and apprentices will receive a 45p raise, bringing their pay to £8 an hour.

Fewer than one in 10 respondents said their pubs would be profitable after the changes take effect next year, down from one in three, the group said.

Phil Thorley, who runs Thorley Taverns in Kent, said he was considering increasing the price of pints at his pub by 5 per cent to offset a £62,000 increase in business rates.

He said: “It just feels like another nail in the coffin of the British pub. It’s setting up a tsunami of costs that are hitting us and are simply impossible to pass on to the consumer.”

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the number of pubs in the UK has decreased by more than 2,000 to fewer than 39,000, according to Government data released at the end of last year.

A Treasury spokesman said: “We’re protecting pubs, restaurants and cafes with the Budget’s £4.3billion support package. Without this support, pubs would face a 45pc increase in the total bills they pay next year.”

Major pub chain JD Wetherspoon has revealed launch dates for seven fresh establishments in the final months of 2025 and early 2026 – including a significant venue that has recently commenced operations in the north east – whilst confirming when another location will open its doors.

The openings include new venues in Bristol, Croydon, Stockton-on-Tees, Beaconsfield and Wetherby. The company is broadening its collection of establishments, with multiple locations expected to serve patrons before 2025 comes to an end.

Earlier this month, JD Wetherspoon’s chief executive vowed to “keep price increases to a minimum” despite confronting pressure from escalating labour expenses, even as the firm reported enhanced sales and profits compared to the previous year.

The business, which runs nearly 800 pubs throughout the UK, has witnessed trading continue to improve in recent months. It disclosed achieving turnover totalling £2.13 billion for the year ending July 27.

This marked a 4.5% rise compared to the previous year, whilst like-for-like sales – which excludes the impact of pub openings and closures – climbed by 5.1%.

This expansion was fuelled by growth in both bar and food sales, though hotel room sales plummeted by nearly 12% following the decision to pull out of online booking platforms in the UK.

The fresh establishments began launching in October – with the next one opening at the start of December.

Wetherspoons pub openings from October 2025:

• Sigered, King of Essex, East Walk Basildon Opening: Tue 21 October
• The New Moor Farm, Cramlington, Tyne and Wear, Wed 5 November
• The Hollybush Seam, Westerleigh Rd, Bristol, Wed 3 December
• The Red Anchor, Stockton-on-Tees (Papas Group franchise) Wed, 10 December
• Coombe Lodge, Croydon Wed 17, December
• The Angel Inn will open in Wetherby, Tues, 23 December
• The Chiltern, Station Road, Beaconsfield, Tues, 13 January

It follows the opening of four extra locations since the summer.

• The Hykeham Manor, Roman Way, Lincoln
• The Sir Alexander Fleming, Merchant Square, Paddington
• Walham Green, Fulham Road, Fulham
• The Dictum of Kenilworth, The Square, Kenilworth

Last week, The New Moor Farm in Cramlington was inaugurated, creating 60 new jobs.

Located on the site of the former Moor Farm Beefeater restaurant, the development project cost over £1 million.

The pub’s name pays homage to its location, which once comprised the fields of Moor Farm, situated just off the bustling A19 Moor Farm Roundabout.

First documented in 1769 as ‘New Moor’, and later referred to as ‘Moor House’, ‘Cramlington Moor Farm’, and finally ‘Moor Farm’, the site had been deserted by the late 1980s.

In the early 2000s, the farmhouse and its outbuildings underwent redevelopment.

The New Moor Farm will operate from 8am until 11.30pm from Sunday to Thursday, and 8am until midnight on Friday and Saturday.

It will feature a ground floor bar, with food being served throughout the day, from opening until 11pm all week long.

Wetherspoon said: “Wetherspoon is opening new pubs across the UK and continues in seeking further sites. Inspired by local history, each pub has its own design, character and personality.

“Wetherspoon has been recognised, winning numerous design award competitions, and is renowned for transforming old and often-derelict buildings into beautiful, vibrant pubs.”

Discussing the latest financial results, Wetherspoon’s chairman Sir Tim Martin revealed that beverages favoured by younger patrons have been experiencing growth across its pubs – including cocktails and fashionable spirits such as Au Vodka.

“Real ale has made a comeback, with volumes challenging pre-pandemic levels,” he stated. “Wine, which had been a bit slow, is at a record.”

Sir Tim also pointed out that chicken dishes were performing well on the food menu, with Korean chicken being a “big success” over the past year, while breakfast continued its recovery with record sales.

The firm operated 794 pubs at the end of the fiscal year, with plans to launch 15 managed sites and 15 franchised locations in the coming year. Sir Tim explained that increases in national insurance contributions and wages were adding approximately £60 million to the chain’s annual expenses, whilst the company was also grappling with the impact of energy costs and new packaging taxes.

Throughout 2025, Wetherspoon maintained an average workforce of nearly 42,100 employees across its pubs and head office.

Giant boozer chain JD Wetherspoon has confirmed the opening dates for five new pubs – and the first one is within days. The chain is expanding its number of outlets – and there are a number opening before the end of 2025.

Eaerlier this month the boss of JD Wetherspoon has said the pub group will try to “keep price increases to a minimum” amid pressure from rising labour costs, despite reporting higher sales and profits over the past year.

The company, which operates nearly 800 pubs across the UK, has benefited from trading continuing to improve in recent months. It revealed it generated revenues totalling £2.13 billion for the year to July 27.

This was 4.5% higher than the year before, while sales on a like-for-like basis – which strips out the impact of pub openings and closures – rose by 5.1%.

This was driven by both bar and food sales growth, while hotel room sales dropped by nearly 12% after deciding to exit from online booking agents in the UK.

The new pubs will be opening from October – with the first on October 21.

Wetherspoons pub openings before 2026:

• Sigered, King of Essex, East Walk Basildon Opening: Tue 21 October
• The New Moor Farm, Cramlington, Tyne and Wear, Wed 5 November
• The Chiltern, Station Road, Beaconsfield, Tue 2 December
• The Hollybush Seam, Westerleigh Rd, Bristol, Wed 3 December
• The Angel Inn will open in Wetherby, Tues December 23.

There is still a chance of more openings of Wetherspoon’s before the end of the year. A date for the next Papas Group franchise in Stockton-on-Tees is also expected to be announced shortly.

It follows the opening of four new Spoon’s locations since the summer.

The Hykeham Manor, Roman Way, Lincoln

The Sir Alexander Fleming, Merchant Square, Paddington

Walham Green, Fulham Road, Fulham

The Dictum of Kenilworth, The Square, Kenilworth

Wetherspoon said: “Wetherspoon is opening new pubs across the UK and continues in seeking further sites. Inspired by local history, each pub has its own design, character and personality.

“Wetherspoon has been recognised, winning numerous design award competitions, and is renowned for transforming old and often-derelict buildings into beautiful, vibrant pubs.”

Speaking about the recent figures Wetherspoon’s chairman Sir Tim Martin said “younger people’s drinks” have been on the rise across its pubs – including cocktails and “trendy” spirits such as the Au Vodka brand.

“Real ale has made a comeback, with volumes challenging pre-pandemic levels,” he said. “Wine, which had been a bit slow, is at a record.”

Sir Tim also said that, across its food menu, chicken-based dishes were selling well, with Korean chicken a “big success” over the latest year, while breakfasts were continuing to rebound with a record-high volume of sales.

The group ran 794 pubs at the end of the financial year, and plans to open 15 managed pubs and 15 franchised pubs in the year ahead.

Sir Tim said increases to national insurance contributions and wages was adding about £60 million to the chain’s yearly costs, while it was also facing an impact from energy charges and new packaging taxes.

Wetherspoon employed an average of nearly 42,100 staff across its pubs and head office over 2025.

A beloved cider brand has been permanently withdrawn from UK supermarkets, pubs and restaurants.

Jaspels has officially ceased trading, with the proprietors revealing the key factors behind the closure.

Janet and Adrian Percival launched Jaspels in 2017 – originally appealing on social media for apple donations to get the venture off the ground.

Janet explained “Jaspels has sadly closed for a number of reasons” – initially highlighting problems with the duration of lease they were offered at their site which she said had a “significant impact on the future planning of the business”.

She continued: “That on top of seasonality challenges made it unviable in the end. A change of personal circumstances also meant we could not continue as myself and Ade separated due to stress. I left in November, and it finally closed mid-July.”

“I would like to say that we loved every moment of Jaspels and will miss the barn and bar massively. We hope it will hold happy memories for you all over the 9 years it was open in Amlwch and Aberffraw.

“It is very sad for the island and ourselves. Thanks for the memories.”

In response, one local patron commented: “So very sad to hear this – we have enjoyed Jaspels on so many occasion’s – it was such a idyllic location and had amazing views.”

Someone else wrote: “Such a shame. We were looking forward to visiting for our yearly Jaspels Cider fix next week. Good luck for the future.”

One satisfied customer left a glowing 5/5 review on TripAdvisor, stating: “Back again to sample the amazing cider and apple juice …get yourself down there amazing experience and amazing prices definitely going back again.”

Another patron concurred, saying: “Great little place. Sat outside taking in the stunning scenery sampling the delicious cider. Will definitely return.”

A third chimed in with: “Absolutely brilliant brewery, stunning views, relaxing seating area, very friendly staff…. and of course the cider is amazing!”.

Another customer commented: “We tried the cinnamon and clove, never had this flavour before but it was lovely. Would highly recommend this place as a stop off on holiday.”