Stars back Primrose Hill pub in M&B row

A number of celebrities have thrown their weight behind the licensees of a popular Primrose Hill pub, after Mitchells & Butlers announced it would be taking back the premises as a managed house.

The Engineer was taken over in 1994 by Tamsin Olivier and Abigail Osborne, who invested £70,000 to refurbish the premises and transform it into a popular London gastropub. The pub is now taking in excess of £30,000 a week, up from £2,000 a week when the licensees took over.

However, the future of the pub has now been thrown into doubt as landlord Mitchells & Butlers served notice with intent to take occupation and possession in October, at the end of the lease.

Comedian and Engineer regular Harry Enfield has joined forces with local businesswoman Jane Robbins, along with other locals and celebrities including comedians Ben Miller and Alexander Armstrong, to launch the campaign 'Engineered Out'.

Robbins told the Publican's Morning Advertiser: "Primrose Hill is about free-thinking individual businesses and we managed to keep Starbucks out, so hopefully we can do the same to Mitchells & Butlers."

Enfield said: "The Engineer was a poor pub before Tamsin and Abi took over in 1994. Since then it has become the most relaxed and unpretentious gastropub in London. The landlord thinks it can swipe the profits and keep the magic. But the magic is Tamsin, Abi and their team."

Osborne said that they want to remain in the pub, which is her livelihood. She added: "Most of our staff have been working here since the pub opened and it is a huge part of the local environment. We have had no help from anybody and they [M&B] have just served notice without any contact. It is heartbreaking."

Unrivalled location​

A spokesman for Mitchells & Butlers confirmed the pub would not be transformed into a branded operation. He said: "The Engineer is a superb pub in an unrivalled location.

"It remains one of the best pubs owned by Mitchells & Butlers and we intend to continue running it as a unique, warm and welcoming place.

"We have no intention of converting the Engineer to any sort of chain or branded operation."

The petition to save the pub currently has more than 1,200 signatures at www.ipetitions.com/petition/theengineer​