This is where the JD comes from in JD Wetherspoon… and it’s nothing to do with the founder’s name
FANS of Wetherspoon pubs will know that the full name of the chain is JD Wetherspoon.
But there’s a secret behind the initials… and they have nothing to do with the name of the founder.
In fact, the two letters are a tribute to The Dukes Of Hazzard's JD Hogg.
Jefferson Davis Hogg – played by actor Sorrell Booke – was the greedy, corrupt county commissioner in the US TV series, which ran for six years from 1979.
Wetherspoon founder Tim Martin was a fan and when he was looking to open his first pub, in North London, in 1979, he chose the character's initials to kick off the name.
There’s another story behind the choice of Wetherspoon too.
The British businessman spent part of his childhood in New Zealand, as his dad was working there, and one of his teachers was called Mr Wetherspoon.
According to Tim: “I decided to call it Wetherspoon's after a former teacher – not because the teacher in question had said I would never make it, as some people think, but because he was too nice a fellow to be running our particular class and he couldn't control it.
“So I thought, 'I can't control the pub, he couldn't control the class, so I'll name it after him'."
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Tim first went into the pub trade after discovering a taste for real ale while studying in Nottingham.
When he moved to Muswell Hill, he could only find one local serving real ale and, when he found out it was for sale, he bought it.
The company now has 904 pubs and rakes in an annual profit of £51.2 million.
Earlier this week, JD Wetherspoon opened the biggest pub in the UK, the Royal Victoria Pavilion in Ramsgate, which caters for up to 1,500 people.
Wetherspoon's Pubs in Numbers
There are 904 Wetherspoon pubs
The company employs 37,500 staff
50 million coffees are served annually
16 million English breakfasts served annually
Winner of the loo of the year awards numerous times
Serves real ale from 600 breweries a year
It's the biggest curry restaurant chain in terms of meals sold at curry club
