South Shields Wetherspoons pub The Wouldhave to close for five months for £2.2million redevelopment, creating 25 more jobs

A South Shields pub is to close for five months as it undergoes a £2.2million redevelopment project which will create 25 new jobs.
The Wouldhave Pub in Mile End Road.The Wouldhave Pub in Mile End Road.
The Wouldhave Pub in Mile End Road.

Work on The Wouldhave pub in Mile End Road will start on October 21 and the pub is due to reopen again on March 21 2020.

Staff will be deployed to other Wetherspoon pubs in the region, during the closure for the work, and will return for the reopening.

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An additional 25 full- and part-time jobs will also be created when The Wouldhave reopens.

The popular pub, in Mile End Road, which first opened as a Wetherspoon in July 1998, is undergoing a refurbishment project, as well as expansion to the customer area and the creation of a new garden.

The retained part of the former nightclub premises will be used to extend the customer area of the pub and house the new relocated bar and cellar area.

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The work also includes a new kitchen, new staff facilities and reconfigured and refurbished customer toilets.

The pub will be completely refurbished and redecorated throughout, including a new colour scheme and finishes, new carpets and lighting, as well as a mixture of new and refurbished furniture and artwork.

Pub manager Phil Riddle said: “Wetherspoon is spending £2.2 million on the pub, providing further substantial investment into the area, as well as creating new jobs for local people.

“Myself and my team will look forward to welcoming customers back into The Wouldhave, in March 2020, and we are confident that they will be impressed by the new-look and larger pub, as well as the brand new garden.”

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Watford-based JD Wetherspoon was founded by chairman Tim Martin in London in 1979, and today it has over 900 outlets nationwide.

Speaking after plans to alter the Ranch House building were approved in 2018, company spokesman Eddie Gershon said: “We believe that the new-look pub will be welcomed by customers and that our investment will act as a catalyst for other businesses to invest in the town.”