Heineken settles dispute with Wetherspoon chain

A row which has seen pub chain Wetherspoon refuse to sell Heineken’s drinks range in all of its 926 pubs across the British Isles has been settled.

Another dispute with Diageo means that already, Wetherspoon does not serve Guinness in Ireland.

The latest disagreement began last month when the brewer refused to supply its lager and Murphy’s stout to Wetherspoon’s new pub at Dun Laoghaire, near Dublin, The Forty Foot.

Wetherspoon had been selling pints of Heineken and Murphy’s at prices around 40 per cent below the normal level at its first pub in the Republic, The Three Tun Tavern at Blackrock. The row came to a head pre-Christmas when the chain’s chief executive, John Hutson, was asked by the Dutch brewer to give a personal guarantee that he would settle bills from Heineken if his employer did not. For its part, Wetherspoon described the request as “unprecendented” and promptly barred the brewer’s products from its pubs, risking £60 a year in sales.

Announcing an end to hostilities this month, Wethersppon said that its UK pubs would now be selling Heineken as well as the brewer’s other brands, Fosters, Kronenberg 1664, Strongbow, John Smith’s Extra Smooth and Amstel. Pubs in Ireland will serve Beamish, Fosters and Symonds Cider but not Murphy’s or Heineken.

Peter Hine, Wetherspoon’s commercial director, said:

“We are pleased to have reached agreeable commercial terms with Heineken. In the Republic of Ireland we will serve the three Heineken products at prices in line with our other products.”