Customers’ petition backs Grosvenor Arms publicans against office developers - Royal London Asset Management's plans thwarted by pub regulars

Published: 12 November 2010
by JOSH LOEB

A PUB praised for its welcoming atmosphere  and “magnetic” live music nights could vanish if developers get the go-ahead to turn it into an office block. 

Staff and customers at the Grosvenor Arms in Grosvenor Street, Mayfair, have started a petition against plans by Royal London Asset Management, which owns the building, to convert it into offices and a penthouse apartment.

Its publicans, independent leaseholders Rosemary John and Alan Weavis, said they had been inundated with words of support from their customers, who include tailors from nearby Savile Row, Mayfair residents and United Airlines pilots – who are eligible for a free pint as part of a promotion with the airline.

Ms John, who has run the Grosvenor with her business partner Mr Weavis for around two years, said they had turned the premises from being “famous for all the wrong reasons” into “a classic London pub”.

She said: “Out of the blue we got this letter saying they had applied for planning permission 

to change the building into offices. We were devastated. We’re the only privately owned pub in Mayfair apart from Guy Richie’s but he has got a bit more money than us.” 

Ron Whelan, secretary of the North Mayfair Residents’ Group and a Grosvenor Arms regular, said: “At a time when many pubs are under threat, this is one that is undergoing a long-overdue renaissance. 

“I am old enough to remember the Grosvenor Arms in the 1960s when, along with the Masons Arms just along the road in Maddox Street, it was a social centre for this part of Mayfair. In the last 20 years or so, it was allowed to decline, but that changed with the new owners. It is now a true ‘local’ for the neighbourhood.”

There has been a pub at 2 Grosvenor Street since the 1850s and the current incarnation hosts quiz nights, darts tournaments, karaoke and jazz sessions.

A spokeswoman for Royal London Asset Management confirmed an application for planning permission had been lodged with Westminster City Council.

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