Scotland in focus as Wetherspoons serves up 10,000 jobs with massive expansion

New pubs and hotels will be opened, while existing bars across the UK and Republic of Ireland will be enlarged, the firm said. Its investment plans will take place over the next four years.

Much of the investment will be channelled into developments in small and medium-sized towns, but will also include larger towns and cities.

These are set to include new pubs in Hamilton, Ely in Cambridgeshire and Prestatyn in North Wales.

The chain has a string of Scottish watering holes including the Caley Picture House in Edinburgh. Picture: Contributed

Wetherspoon, which currently operates 875 pubs and 58 hotels across the UK and the Republic of Ireland, will also be investing in major cities including Edinburgh, Glasgow, London, Dublin, Birmingham, Leeds and Galway.

Founder and chairman Tim Martin said: “We are looking forward to opening many more new pubs as well as investing in existing pubs over the next four years.

“We are especially pleased that a large proportion of the investment will be in smaller towns and cities which have seen a decline in investment in recent years.

“The fact that we will be creating approximately 10,000 jobs is great news too.”