Wetherspoons plans glass screens, full-time cleaners for pub reopening

(Reuters) - British pub operator J D Wetherspoon <JDW.L> is investing 11 million pounds in measures including glass screens, entry and exit signs and thousands of hand sanitisers in a bid to ensure social distancing at its pubs once they reopen, it said on Friday.

The company, whose cheaply priced pubs are a fixture of British towns and cities, said each of its 875 locations would have an average of ten hand sanitisers and one full-time member of staff devoted to regularly cleaning surfaces and touch points.

It will provide gloves, masks and protective eyewear to employees if they choose to use it along with glass screens in some areas and around cash-points and staff will hand over all drinks holding the base of the glass.

Customers will be encouraged to pay by app or contactless, but pubs will still accept cash payments, it said.

(Reporting by Tanishaa Nadkar in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick Graham)