Wetherspoons is a chain of over 800 pubs in the UK. They are functional pubs - beer on tap, deep patterned carpets, not too brightly lit.

Rather than base myself in the endless coffee shops, I’ll often be working out of a Wetherspoons. I’m usually here in the afternoon, although sometimes arrive as early as 10am.

Some of my most productive times have been at Wetherspoons. I once worked three months of 9-5 shifts in a ‘spoons in Slough. I produced Insolvency News, which I later sold.

Here’s why I love it:

A seat, at a proper table, with little passing traffic

I tuck myself into a corner. I get a normal chair, and an incredibly heavy table. I find that coffee shops are too transitory for me - people come and go in five minutes. The tables are wimpy and tiny. The chairs are not comfortable - and it’s understandable; they don’t actually want people sitting there.

Here in Wetherspoons, people tend to stay for at least an hour.

No kids

No screaming babies, no au pairs on an outing with badly behaved little shits who need a good spanking.

Low risk

Wetherspoons is very much downmarket compared with Starbucks, and most other pub companies.  They have a mix of clientele, but their daytime core is men aged 40+, generally drinking on their own. These are not likely to pick my pocket or snatch my laptop.  These are also big places, full of obstructions and rough and ready men.  I wouldn’t fancy a snatcher’s chance at getting out with my laptop, certainly not compared with the office staff prancing around Pret.

It’s also not a place with rich pickings.  There are dozens of nice laptops and thick wallets in coffee shops - I’m usually the only one in here.  This place is not targeted.

Wi-fi

Free. Reliable. No hassles.

The downsides

  • Lonely old boozers who are desperate to talk to anyone about anything.
  • People who stink.

Both of the above like to stay near the bar - they don’t seem to make it up stairs very often.