New owners of Wetherspoons in Wick to retain the 24 staff and aim to expand the business
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THE 24 staff at Wetherspoons in Wick are to be kept on by the new owners who want to expand the popular town-centre business.
That was said by Rob Reeley, the managing director of the Inntuitive Group Ltd, which has just bought the Alexander Bain pub in Market Square. It already owns the Weigh Inn and the Y-Not in Thurso as well as the Ferry Inn, Scrabster.
Mr Reeley told the John O' Groat Journal the employees in Wick will be retained, taking the company's total number of staff in Caithness to over 100.
Wetherspoons will close on Sunday with the new owners planning to re-open the premises on Monday, September 19.
Mr Reeley said: "We are a family-owned business – myself, my wife Jules and daughters Bella (24) and Lizzie (19) are all involved. We are based in Lauder in the Borders. The Alexander Bain is our sixth acquisition since the start of Covid. While we have come through some worrying and uncertain times we decided that we could not sit at home worrying about the future. We took calculated risks that have in the main worked well for us."
The Inntuitive Group Ltd runs eight inns, restaurants and hotels from the Borders to Inverness and Caithness. "We have had the Corriegarth Hotel in Inverness for six years so already had a connection to the Highlands. We now have about 230 employees across Scotland and our challenge is to ensure that we weather the coming storm given the challenges of our own costs rocketing – due to soaring energy bills and rising inflation – as well as the likely strain on household incomes. We are hopeful that the politicians are listening to business groups as well as the obvious struggles that all households are going through and develop a plan to ensure that we all have the opportunity to survive and grow."
"We are inheriting approximately 24 employees from Wetherspoons which will take our current total in Caithness to 108 (full and part-time). Clearly, this will increase in summer season and may decrease slightly in deep winter, " he said.
"With four venues in the Thurso/Wick area we believe that we are offering real choice to locals. We have protected the jobs at the Alexander Bain and aim to grow the existing team – this will create opportunities at all levels for local people. We want to continue to grow as opportunities arise in the wider area," said Mr Reeley.
Asked about the plans for the Wick business, he said: "Initially, at least, we will retain many of the features of the current operation. The site has a strong regular following among locals that we want to retain but we will be looking at a more local offer rather than the national outlook that Wetherspoons adopt. Music, live and recorded, will become part of the offer."
Mr Reeley said there could be "tweaks" to the format as "we begin to understand what the market wants and what opportunities there are to improve."
"Food will continue to be the mainstay but we will evolve service levels and aim to improve the ambience and atmosphere with small decorative improvements over the winter. It will not be an overnight transformation as we want to work with the local team to train and develop their skills over the coming months," stated Mr Reeley who stressed suppliers will include companies in Caithness and Orkney.
He also pointed out the Inntuitive Group has a rewards scheme operating across all its venues. It has over 9000 members who qualify for various exclusive offers and promotions.
J D Wetherspoon confirmed the Alexander Bain pub in Wick has been sold after19 years.
Spokesman Eddie Gershon said: "We can confirm that the pub’s final day of trading as a Wetherspoon will be Sunday September 11.
"We understand that both customers and staff will be disappointed the pub has been sold, however, Wetherspoon does sell pubs, on occasion.
"We thank both our staff and customers for their loyalty over the years. All staff are being transferred to the new owners."
The town centre premises were advertised for sale in April and was previously put on the market three years ago.
When the venue was put up for sale again this year the company stated it would remain open until a buyer could be found.
The pub opened at Wick’s former post office in May 2003 and is named after the Watten-born inventor of the electric clock who lived from 1810 to 1877.
