The founder and chairman of JD Wetherspoon is planning to ‘enlarge’ a number of its boozers across the country after the chain record its ‘busiest opening day ever’ in Marlow and amid the rise of the ‘mega pub’.

Sir Tim Martin’s newest Wetherspoon branch opened to much fanfare at the top of Marlow High Street last month.

And the businessman revealed that The Grand Assembly had seen “a busier opening than Waterloo Station in central London or Mile Castle opposite Newcastle Station”, putting in good stead to be “one of the busiest opening days ever, if not the busiest”.

Hot off the heels of that admission, the pub boss told The Sun this week that he was hoping to continue taking big swings with more ‘Super Spoons’ sites in the works – following the model of the Royal Victoria Pavilion in Ramsgate which, after a transformation in 2017, has a capacity for over 1500 and the biggest beer garden in Britain.

Sir Tim said: “We’re probably going to enlarge 40 or 50 more of our pubs over the next few years, in a similar style to Ramsgate and Newcastle.”

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He also praised the chain’s incorporation of local links into each site’s décor – in Marlow’s case, comprising references to the town’s famous rowing and literary history and displaying work by resident artists.

Bar staff member Callum told the Free Press that The Grand Assembly’s first week of business had been “as busy as a Saturday night” – and we found it packed to the rafters when we stopped by on Friday lunchtime, three days after it had opened its doors.

Could the newest addition to Marlow’s hospitality scene, then, be one of the sites eyed up for further expansion?

We’ll have to wait and see but, as The Telegraph’s Daniel Woolfson wrote last month, it seems that the “age of the mega pub” is just beginning.

Woolfson suggested that “economies of scale” meant oversized establishments were, contrary to assumption, becoming more manageable to run than traditional village boozers – and will perhaps continue to grow into bigger, more amorphous spaces, operating as all-day cafes and co-working spaces as well as somewhere to grab a pint.