The Resolution JD Wetherspoons in Middlesbrough still for sale

The Resolution spoons in Middlesbrough was one of 32 pubs earmarked for closure by the hospitality giant last year.

In a statement last September explaining the sales, the group said it was a “commercial decision” as it named the pubs set to be sold off. Those set to close would all remain open until a buyer was found.

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A listing on Savills says the pub has an annual rent of £120,000.

A Wetherspoons spokesperson said: “The Resolution pub remains on the market. It is open and trading as usual.”

The Water House on North Road in Durham City was also put up for sale and has since been taken on by new owners who have plans to reopen the boozer.

Last month JD Wetherspoon announced another 22 of its pubs would close, after 28 of those initially earmarked for closure were sold.

The group denied the move was a “money-raising exercise” amid tough trading conditions, insisting that the “almost all” of the sales are in areas where it has another pub nearby.

It comes after the firm – which has 827 pubs across the UK – warned last September that 32 pubs were being put up for sale due to a “commercial decision” as it battled higher food and energy costs.

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But in its latest update, it said it was a “misinterpretation” to suggest the move was down to difficult trading conditions.

It said: “In fact, the disposals have raised relatively modest amounts (although every little helps) and almost all are related to circumstances … where there is another Wetherspoon pub nearby.”

It came as Wetherspoon notched up another double-figure hike in sales and said it was being boosted by easing energy costs.

The firm saw sales lift 11.5 per cent year on year in the 10 weeks so far of its final trading quarter and are up 12.9 per cent in the financial year to date.