Student gets a first for his dissertation on Wetherspoons pubs

A student who wrote his university dissertation on Wetherspoon pubs got a first after deciding to focus on how pundits use the pub.

Josh Griffiths, 22, is a huge fan of the budget pubs and looked into the popular chain’s place in society.

His tutor said it was the first time in four decades of his career an undergraduate had done their dissertation on Spoons.

The 22-year-old delved into how consumers use the pub, what is popular behind the bar and which locations might make sense for the company’s expansion.

For his research, he focused on four pubs: Beckett’s Bank and The Golden Beam, both in Leeds; The Crosse Keys, in the City of London; and The Sovereign of the Seas in Petts Wood, south-east London.

He visited them and others up and down the country for his in-depth academic research project.

Josh wrote 10,000 words on the topic for his BA honours in Geography at the University of Leeds.

He got a 74% mark for the dissertation, which helped him earn a first-class degree, the highest grade.

Josh said: ‘I enjoyed visits to The Lion & The Unicorn in Waterloo station and The Samuel Peto in Folkestone, Kent, alongside some of the case study pubs.’

Professor David Bell, Josh’s dissertation supervisor, commented that it was the first time in his 38-year career that he had encountered a dissertation on Wetherspoon.

He said: ‘I was really impressed by Josh’s finished project. He used observational data brilliantly to capture the diverse uses and customers, comparing different days and times to show the many roles which Spoons has in the community.

‘He combined this with some GIS mapping to look for potential new sites for Wetherspoon venues to open.’

David added: ‘This was a really innovative mix of methods. I really enjoyed supervising Josh and have, myself, become an observer of Spoons life.’

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