UPDATE 1-J D Wetherspoon to spend more than 200 mln pounds to develop pubs

Pub operator J D Wetherspoon Plc said on Tuesday it would spend more than 200 million pounds ($256.60 million) to develop new pubs and hotels as well as to expand existing ones in the UK and Ireland, creating about 10,000 new jobs.

Like most pub and restaurant chains, Wetherspoon too has been battling rising costs due to a mandatory minimum wage hike, higher property prices and power bills. "...a large proportion of investment will be in smaller towns and cities, which have seen a decline in investment in recent years," founder and chairman Tim Martin said.

The Watford-headquartered company said it will also invest in major cities including London, Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Birmingham, Leeds and Galway. Wetherspoon, which was initially called Martin's Free House, operates 875 pubs and 58 hotels across the UK and Ireland and employs 44,000 staff. ($1 = 0.7794 pounds)