'Super Spoons' in Newcastle creates 70 new jobs after £5m refurbishment

A look-around the newly refurbished pub The Mile Castle on Grainger Street in Newcastle City Centre.
-Credit: (Image: Newcastle Chronicle)


Around 70 new jobs have been created in a project to add the first Wetherspoons hotel in the North East to one of its busiest pubs.

The national chain has invested £5m in a refurbishment of the Mile Castle in Newcastle city centre, with the pub re-opening today after being closed for 13 weeks. The pub has been refurbished throughout with internal alterations creating new areas across the three-storey property including an extension to the third-floor bar area, upgraded kitchen facilities, a new gents toilet and longer bars.

Work is also being finalised on the opening of a hotel - the chain’s first in the North East - in an adjoining building to the Mile Castle. The hotel will feature 26 en-suite rooms, as well as a beer garden on a former car park behind the pub.

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Wetherspoons bought Gibb Chambers, a 19th century building on Westgate Road, in 2019, but the pub expansion plan was initially delayed by the pandemic. The former home of Samuel Phillips Law Firm was originally the infirmary of Dr CJ Gibb, who was made famous in the famous Blaydon Races song.

The hotel is set to open in November, with the development bringing the pub’s headcount to around 200.

Pub manager Kris Lee said: “The £5m investment highlights Wetherspoon’s commitment to the pub, its staff and customers, as well as to Newcastle itself. We are delighted that we can also create 70 new jobs for local people.

Bar manager Kris Lee at the newly refurbished pub The Mile Castle on Grainger Street in Newcastle city centre
Bar manager Kris Lee at the newly refurbished pub The Mile Castle on Grainger Street in Newcastle city centre -Credit:Newcastle Chronicle

“The team are looking forward to welcoming customers back into The Mile Castle and we’re confident that they will be impressed by the new-look pub. We also look forward to the new hotel opening on November 12.”

Wetherspoon has more than 800 pubs around the UK, with around 30 in the North East. The Mile Castle pub will be open from 8am until 1am Sunday to Thursday, and 8am until 2am Friday and Saturday, with part of the pub converted into a nightclub with a live DJ at weekends.