'Fatal' Brexit Vote Forced Princess Victoria's Closure

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Owners of Uxbridge Road pub say takings slumped by 20% in last year

The owners of Uxbridge Road gastropub the Princess Victoria have blamed the "fatal" Brexit vote for its sudden closure.

Local customers were shocked when the pub suddenly shut its doors at the beginning of the month and it was revealed that it is not expected to reopen "for the foreseeable future".

The pub was owned by Affinity Bars and Restaurants, who also owned along with Dickie Fitz in Fitzrovia, the Lady Ottoline in Bloomsbury and the Henry Root in Chelsea. All are now closed.

Now Affinity director Richard Fulford-Smith, a City shipbroker has revealed that takings at the pub had dropped by 20% in the last year.

He told the industry newsletter Tradewinds: " The fatal Brexit vote heralded the start of a different economic cyle for the UK and London in particular.

"We suspected it would hurt us and it did."

As well as lower takings, the company said it was damaged by increases in rent and business rates and increasing difficulty recruiting staff.

A second director of Affinity, Simon Wainwright said that last month's general election result was "the final straw" the forced the company to close its pubs.

The closure also came as a shock to staff at the pub, who announced it on Twitter in response to a query about opening hours, saying: "Unfortunately we have been closed down as of 7am this morning and are not open anymore for the foreseeable future."

Asked for more details about possible reopening the pub tweeted @PVWestLondon:" We doubt it, our entire company has shut down. 80 staff across 3 venues have lost jobs. If we do reopen it probably won't be us.

"Thank you so much, it was our pleasure, we love all our customers but unfortunately there is nothing we can do. We have been locked out."

These tweets were followed by a statement on the pub's Facebook page.

It said: "As of today we are unfortunately closed, out of the blue, no one was expecting it but all of our sites across affinity bars and restaurants have been shut down as of 7am this morning and 80 staff have lost their jobs, apologies to any customers wanting to come in but there is nothing we can do.

"And to those who had functions booked and paid for we literally found out at 7am this morning, on behalf of all the staff we are so extremely sorry and we hope there is something we can do for you however our higher ups have decided that we need to close with immediate effect.

"Lots of hard working, dedicated staff have lost their jobs and we we are sorry that we couldn't look after you in the future." 

The Princess Victoria, which was also known for being a gin palace, offering more than 70 different types of gin, was awarded London County Dining Pub of the Year by the Good Pub Guide 2016 and was Highly Commended in the Best Wine Bar/Pub category, at the Great British Pub Awards 2014.

July 24, 2017