The billionaire developer closing London's pubs

https://www.the-londoner.co.uk/exclusive-the-billionaire-developer-closing-londons-pubs/

by rwmj • 11 months ago

65 34 11 months ago

the-londoner.co.uk

righthand7• 11 months ago

A friend of mine from the UK told me that pubs might be the country’s greatest contributor to the downward spiral of the legal system and government there. It was anecdotal but he joked that the reason they have all this authoritarianism on the table is because no one can be arsed to do anything but commiserate at the pub.

nicky0• 11 months ago

What a strange thing for your friend to say.

righthand7• 11 months ago

Why is that? Pub culture is probably deeper there than the drinking culture in America. Just because there are healthy social aspects to it doesn’t mean that it hasn’t rotted over time.

barbazoo4• 11 months ago

Sounds like a shill for whoever that billionaire monster is that’s swinging their proverbial dick around here just to have more stuff than his also empty billionaire friends.

How about the community aspect of it? Anything positive from people gathering, being social?

righthand7• 11 months ago

Sure. How about the alcoholism aspect? Anything negative from people peer pressuring others to socialize a certain way with poison?

stuaxo3• 11 months ago

Sounds kind of glib.

Pubs are now incredibly expensive, a lot of this comes from the pubco scandal. At the other end you have people like Mr Aziz ensuring these hubs of the community get shut down.

People are more likely to organise if they have somewhere to meet.

barbazoo4• 11 months ago

the pub campaigners and the council won: the China Hall was ordered to remain as a pub. But it was too late for Norris. The fight had taken it out of him, and his health deteriorated rapidly. He died on 22 June 2023, aged 74. Some 250 people turned up to his funeral in Honor Oak.

Sounds like a class act.

As long as there are no negative consequences for billionaires to behave like this they will continue to do so. Only a matter of time until people take matters into their hands.

anovikov3• 11 months ago

Thing is, for it to truly stop an incentive has to be removed. It shouldn't be a profitable idea. A business open in a particular place has to be the most profitable business possible there. What's the problem if it's not the pub? Drinking rates are nosediving in UK, and that's a good thing, a generation ago half the country was spending their life sloshed days long.

stuaxo3• 11 months ago

He's making it unprofitable by doubling the rent.

The pubcos have made it unprofitable by profiteering.

Neither of these are indicative of a free and functioning market.

Are you a sockpuppet for the other user here that wrote a very similar comment ?

BobaFloutist• 11 months ago

A business open in a particular place has to be the most profitable business possible there.

Why?

jjice• 11 months ago

What a shame. The pub culture in London was excellent when I visited - a real highlight of the people. The amount of friendly strangers I chatted with over a beer at a pub that had outlasted (or at least been repaired) through the Blitz in WW2 is astounding. A really beautiful city.

cedws• 11 months ago

I think they’re crap tbh, born and raised in England. Pubs now charge way too much for alcohol, in many areas they have grumpy bouncers, rude service, and bad food. You can’t look away from your belongings for a moment without risking them being stolen. Try Japanese izakayas, way better.

tetris11• 11 months ago

Go to zone4 for a real decent pub culture. You can see families with their kids there on a Friday/Saturday night serving drinks for reasonable prices (£2 ales, £4 lagers)

NKosmatos• 11 months ago

Interesting... I could easily see this becoming a Guy Ritchie film (British crime comedy) :-)

drcongo• 11 months ago

Do you not think Londoners have suffered enough?

triceratops• 11 months ago

That's the second time I've read about this random London landlord in the span of a month on HN. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44682759

elthran• 11 months ago

Have a third! https://www.londoncentric.media/p/picturehouse-central-cinem...

drumhead• 11 months ago

Pub and banks have been disappearing from communities rather rapidly over the last 20 - 30 years. With pubs its because fewer people are drinking and its cheaper to buy your drinks from a supermarket or an off-licence. Communities in London are also changing, the white working class have moved out to the suburbs or out of the city entirely, the newer communities either dont drink or dont have a pub going tradition. But there are no real community hubs that have taken over.

rekabis• 11 months ago

It’s why we call Billionaires the Parasite Class - because like a true parasite, they bleed the community of its vitality and vigour in favour of the obscenely fat, labour-free profit margins that they are so greedily obsessed by.

lazyeye• 11 months ago

I'm wondering whether this is targeted and islamic beliefs are playing a role in this.

The billionaire developer closing London's pubs

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