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News
Truscott Arms closes after £175k rent hike
Popular west London gastropub The Truscott Arms has been forced to close after owners of the building raised rent from £75,000 to £250,000 a year.
The Truscott Arms in Maida Vale has become recognised as an important community asset since it opened in 2013 (Photo: The Truscott Arms)
The award-winning pub in Maida Vale opened in 2013 and has been ranked among the capital’s top gastropubs every year since thanks to the talents of chef Aiden McGee.
McGee was part of the launch team at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal and worked as sous chef at Princess Diana’s favourite, Launceston Place, in Kensington.
The £175,000 rent hike came with an additional back-dated rent demand of £330,000, which Truscott Arms owners Andrew and Mary Jane Fishwick said made their business ‘untenable’.
A statement from the gastropub owners said: ‘We are exploring new projects and new sites, and we will continue to work hard to promote this important industry and care about the issues faced, so that British public houses are protected.”
Andrew Fishwick told the Evening Standard that the “situation just feels incredibly unfair”.
He added: “We are incredibly proud of all that The Truscott Arms means. Not just because we created an exceptional, award-winning pub but because we built a meaningful hub in our community, a hub that was run with passion by a loyal, dedicated team for all of our guests.”
The Truscott Arms has been recognised with a string of awards since it opened in 2013 – and not only for its food. Last year it was named the sustainable pub of the year by the Sustainable Restaurant Association, as well as being listed as an Asset of Community Value by Westminster City Council.
Read our March 2016 DB Eats review of the Truscott Arms here.
Rear DB Eats’ recent review of The Woodford here.
Members of the public and local politicians have voiced their anger at the situation. Local resident Giorgia Robson started a petition on Change.org, which so far has attracted almost 500 signatures, while local Labour councillor Adam Hug committed his support to saving the pub.
“Because of the Truscott and the owners I have settled into Maida Vale as a home, and without it Maida Vale just won’t be the same. It won’t have that relaxed atmosphere that we all love,” Robson said.
Labour Group Leader Councillor Adam Hug wrote to Westminster Council’s chief executive, Charlie Parker, and executive director for growth, planning and housing, Ed Watson, calling for urgent action by the local authority, describing the move by the building’s owner as “unscrupulous”.
“In the few years since the Truscott Arms opened it has become a beloved fixture in our local community,” he said.
“It has hosted many happy family occasions in my life as it has for so many other residents, which is why we are so angry about the unscrupulous behaviour of the building’s owners.
“Westminster Council must come out quickly and clearly to reconfirm its support of the Asset of Community Value status and stand with residents who will resist any attempt to convert this wonderful pub into more unwanted luxury flats.
“Labour councillors will stand with local residents to fight this destructive act and try to save the Truscott Arms.”
These guys mismanaged their business by opening a doomed wine cellar in Belsize Park with money they took off a round of investors last year. When they took they money, Mr. Fishwick failed to acknowledge his criminal past as a convicted fraudster (see google), failed to fully acknowledge the catastrophic risk their pub was facing in this rent review, and failed to share the intention to pay back bills with the equity they raised. The big bad landlord story is interesting, but the idea the Fishwick’s cleverly defrauded a round of investors to save their doomed businesses is far more compelling.