13 London pubs enter administration — is your local one of them?

Over the weekend, the owner of 13 London pubs, bars and restaurants confirmed several of its sites have gone into administration, affecting some of the city’s most popular drinkeries.

Antic hospitality group is behind several noted south and east London venues, including the famous Brixton Dogstar. The sites are run through a variety of independent legal vehicles. Each is expected to trade as normal while the appointed administrators search for a buyer.

The news about Antic comes despite last weekend being one of the busiest of the year for punters. England played in the Euro 2024 final on Sunday evening, providing a shot in the arm for the hospitality sector that has clearly come too late for the Antic pub firm.

A dismal trading environment, combined with rising staffing costs, has resulted in over 3,000 hospitality businesses closing in the capital since 2019.

Which pubs are affected?

The majority of Antic’s pubs are south of the River Thames. The operator has specialised in refurbishing disused and unfashionable sites into trendy and characterful pubs.

Administrators were called to four sites owned by the Antic pub group on 12 July. These are Elflock Limited, Babel Silk Limited, Brocade Limited and De Gremio Limited.

Together, the 13 pubs, bars, and restaurants affected by the news are:

• Dogstar (Brixton)
• Gremio de Brixton (Brixton)
• Balham Bowls Club (Balham)
• East Dulwich Tavern (East Dulwich)
• Tooting Tram and Social (Tooting)
• The Sun (Camberwell)
• Antelope (Tooting)
• Clapton Hart (Clapton)
• The Elephant and Castle Pub (Elephant and Castle)
• Hagen & Hyde (Balham)
• Graveney & Meadow (Tooting)
• Red Lion (Leytonstone)
• Coopers (Crystal Palace)

What will happen to the affected pubs?

Pub goers concerned about their favourite drinking spot potentially closing down can be reassured; all 13 sites are expected to continue to trade as usual while a buyer is found.

Joint administrators, Steve Absolom and Will Wright from Interpath Advisory, told The Caterer: “This is an eclectic collection of well-known and popular pubs and bars located in prime sites across south London.

“We intend to bring these units to market in due course, representing a fantastic opportunity for investors and trade purchasers alike.”

Starting a pub or bar is a dream ambition for many Brits. As many as 40% of us would love to make a taproom into our office and pour pints for a living.

Nonetheless, today’s harsh trading conditions have made that vocation much harder to achieve over the past ten years — even for large pub operators.

Tim Martin, the owner of the UK’s biggest pub chain, Wetherspoons, recently said he had sold or surrendered the lease on 26 pubs so far this year amid troubling market conditions.

Why are 13 pubs and bars closing?

This is not the first time that Antic has faced trouble. 12 pubs run by its offshoot company, Antic Limited were previously placed into administration in 2013 after they experienced problems paying sums due to HMRC. Luckily all 12 were purchased within one month.

This time, though, the finger of blame can be pointed at COVID-19. Interpath has said that the affected sites had been struggling with legacy liabilities left over from the pandemic.

In the five years since the COVID outbreak began, our behaviours and habits have changed massively. Including, in bad news for brick-and-mortar firms, a decline in high street footfall.

The lost footfall has been disruptive for many UK organisations, but it has proved particularly devastating for hospitality. Given the sector tends to operate on very small profit margins, its businesses tend to be more vulnerable to sales declines than other industries.

With footfall dropping, pubs and restaurants have been relying on large-scale events, such as the men’s Euro 2024 championship to draw crowds. Independent drinkeries saw sales grow by almost 10%, on average, during England and Scotland games in June and July.

Spending has been tempered, though, by a wet UK summer. Antic hospitality group will be hoping for a sunnier outlook as it searches for a buyer over the coming weeks.