JD Wetherspoon sues Welsh pub for using 'Wetherspoons' name (2024)

Wetherspoons are suing a controversial Welsh pub after they started trading as 'Wetherspoons Ltd' - highlighting how rap group Goldie Lookin Chain have namechecked the bargain bar chain.

The Bridge Head in Abergele, Denbighshire, previously faced controversy after a name change from the traditional Welsh Pen-y-Bont.

But now the nationwide JD Wetherspoon chain has hit them with a legal claim after they added 'Wetherspoons Limited' to their sign.

The watering hole also registered it for the first time on February 10 with the nature of business listed as 'licensed restaurants' and 'public houses and bars'.

Sir Tim Martin - who is the founder and chairman of what is officially known as JD Wetherspoon PLC - says he will try and resolve the action informally.

He told The Telegraph:'It's mad. We're well known in Wales. Welsh poets Goldie Looking Chain have even memorialised us in song.'

Welsh band Goldie Lookin Chain, who reached number three in the UK singles chart in 2004 with Guns Don't Kill People Rappers Do, featured the pub brand in their single Is It Wetherspoons released in May last year.

Its lyrics include: 'In every major city, in every major town - if you can't find a Wetherspoons, you're a f***ing clown.'

The track appears dubious about Sir Tim, with a verse suggesting: 'No jukebox the vibe is kind of subdued - but they've got polite staff and acceptable food.

'You can try and complain about the cheap booze, and the guy who owns it all with his questionable views.'

But despite this, Sir Tim appears to have appreciated the mention.

Discussing the new legal battle with the Welsh bar, he added:'Despite a number of requests to the pub's owners to remove the reference to Wetherspoons, they refused and we have therefore had to issue court proceedings asking the court to order that they do so.

'We hope that the matter can still be resolved amicably.'

A spokesman for the pub was quoted in March telling North Wales Live: 'Wetherspoons Ltd is a legitimate name and an available name. It has been registered with Companies House.

'It's a standalone private company. The letters "JD" have not been used. The business has no affiliation with JD Wetherspoon or Tim Martin.'

MailOnline has contacted the pub for further comment.

Responding to the row, Goldie Lookin Chain's Rhys Hutchings today told MailOnline: 'That’s too funny. Pretending to be a Wetherspoons - talk about cultural appropriation.

'Wonder if they want uncle Tim to buy them out? Hope their toilets are up three flights of stairs.

'People love a Spoons in Wales. Remember the good old days of two meals for a fiver…'

JD Wetherspoon takes its name from JD, a character in 1980s US TV show The Dukes of Hazzard, and the surname of one of Sir Tim's childhood school teachers.

Drinkers were urged earlier this year to boycott the Abergele pub after the rebrand of its traditional Welsh language name to what was dubbed a 'slapdash' English translation.

The Pen-y-Bont relaunched with new management on March 1, St David's Day, under new name The Bridge Head - and relegated the Welsh original to a smaller spot on signs outside the building.

Among the critics was Wrexham University senior law lecturer Dylan Rhys Jones, who said that shunning the traditional name 'disparages the Welsh language'.

He said: 'This is some kind of slapdash translation, which is unacceptable.

'I hope the people of Abergele vote with their feet and never tread into this pub ever again.

'Pen y Bont is the correct name of this pub, not some ridiculous Google translate Anglophile version.

'It's time to boycott this pub until their owners come to their senses.'

Another Abergele resident Gareth Bolton slammed the 'savage' name change as 'atrocious'.

He told the BBC: 'At the end of the 19th century, Abergele had 16 pubs, all of them with an English name apart from Pen-Y-Bont and the Gwindy.

'The names of these institutions are woven into local culture, identity and history.'