Former East London Pub Company sites on sale

09-Jan-2024 - Last updated on 09-Jan-2024 at 15:30 GMT

Sites on the market: the Lock Tavern in Chalk Farm Road, Camden, north London

Four pubs of the former East London Pub Company (ELPC), which went into administration in November last year, have been placed on the market.

International real estate adviser Savills explained: “On behalf of the joint administrators of East London Pub Company and Lock Tavern Limited (both in administration), [Savills] is marketing the disposals of four London properties: freeholds the Lock Tavern in Camden and the Saxon in Clapham, as well as leaseholds the Gun and the Ten Bells, both in Spitalfields Market.”

Savills added the sites are available individually or as a group.

Exceptional level of revenue

Ed Sandall, director in the Licensed & Leisure team at Savills, added: “It is extremely rare to have four London sites of this calibre come to the market, all of which are located in a prime leisure circuit and produce exceptional level of revenue. We are anticipating strong demand for the assets.”

East London Pub COmpany Saxon in Clapham — The Saxon pub in Clapham, south London

ELPC director Padraic Frawley, who founded the operation in 2014, stepped down as a director on 10 November and administrators from Kroll Advisory were appointed on 16 November.

All four sites continued to trade after the parent company went into administration.

At the time, a statement from the Kroll Advisory read: “The business of the companies continue to trade as usual especially in the lead-up to the busy Christmas period.”

Thrown to the wolves

Frawley had previously claimed the hospitality industry had been “thrown to the wolves” during the Covid pandemic, when writing for The Morning Advertiser back in December 2020.

East London Pub Company Lock tavern interior — Interior of the Lock Tavern in Camden

The Gun was opened in 2019 after a joint investment of £2.2m between the East London Pub Company and Star Pubs & Bars. The renovation at the time was described as Heineken-owned Star’s largest ever investment in a single pub.

As of 9 January 2024, a statement of the administrators’ proposal for both East London Pub Company and Lock Tavern Limited were being processed and would be available withing 10 days, according to Companies House.