Haverfordwest and Carmarthen Wetherspoon pubs to get 'significant upgrades' in £145m UK-wide investment
Two Welsh Wetherspoon pubs are set to receive "significant extensions and upgrades" as part of a £145m UK-wide investment into the chain.
The company announced that ambitious plans will start within weeks of its pubs reopening fully as lockdown eases, promising the creation of 2,000 new jobs.
A total of 18 new pubs will open and "significant extensions and upgrades" will be made to scores of current pubs.
Yr Hen Dderwen, on King Street in Carmarthen, and The William Owen, on Quay Street in Haverfordwest, are two of the ten first towns and cities to receive upgrades or new pubs.
Other locations include Leeds, Birmingham, Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire, Sheffield, Felixstowe in Suffolk, Heswall on the Wirral, Dublin and Glasgow.
Once all 75 projects in the pipeline are completed, Wetherspoon said it plans to invest £750m into opening 15 new pubs and enlarging 50 existing pubs each year for 10 years, creating 20,000 new jobs.
Founder and chairman Tim Martin said: "Our immediate investment will provide work for architects, contractors and builders as well as result in 2,000 new jobs for staff in our pubs.
"We are geared up to start on the first projects within a few months.
"We are also committed to our long-term investment and job creation programme over the next decade.
"However, the investment is conditional on the UK opening back up again on a long-term basis, with no further lockdowns or the constant changing of rules."
A date for the reopening of hospitality in Wales has not yet been announced, after being ordered to close before Christmas.
But the Welsh Government has said it will consider pubs, bars, restaurants and cafes in its next review of restrictions on 22 April.