JD Wetherspoon buys Carbon nightclub in Galway city

Pub operator JD Wetherspoon has acquired Carbon Nightclub in Galway with plans to upgrade the facility with an investment of about €2.5 million.

The UK-headquartered company said on Tuesday it will apply for planning permission and a variation to the facility’s licence to develop the site into a pub. It is understood the company will spend at least €2 million acquiring the business.

Wetherspoon plans to transform Carbon to have about 4,000sq ft of customer space and a 1,900sq ft first floor beer garden.

Irish estate

The move adds to the company’s Irish estate which encompasses seven pubs and one hotel. Wetherspoon owns five premises in operation in Dublin, including the recently opened Silver Penny, one in Carlow and one in Cork. It expects the Galway transaction to complete in August.

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Additionally, the company is developing an 89 bedroom hotel in Camden Street, Dublin, and a site in Co Waterford.

Opened in February 2011, Carbon is located on Galway's Eglinton Street. The nightclub is owned by Sugarleisure Limited which recorded a €50,557 profit in 2017, the most recent year for which accounts are available. By December 31st that year, the company owed €539,282 to credit institutions.

Losses

Despite growing sales across its estate, Wetherspoon’s recently updated shareholders saying it had shrunk the volume of premises under its control, with five new openings offset by nine disposals. The group said it expects to book a £3 million (€3.3 million) exceptional loss after some of the disposals came under balance sheet value. The company has also invested £71 million in buying up freeholds for its pubs.