In the 10 years this beautiful Victorian boozer on Acton Street, London WC1X has been ours, we’ve ensured it provides a welcoming space in which to drink, eat and catch up with friends.
Along with all pubs in the UK, Covid-19 put us in a position where our only option was to shut our doors and wait it out. We did so quickly and willingly for the safety of our wonderful staff and punters, not knowing how long we would remain closed. After what feels like forever, the time has finally come to reopen. We are faced with a huge mission, as to open up after having been closed for so long, requires considerable effort and cost. We are not in a position to simply pick up where we left off; we need to figure out how we can afford to re-stock from scratch, and how to safely and properly manage the space. In short, The Queen’s Head is in need of your support to get her doors open again.
Since the pub is situated in the heart of the capital, we’re anticipating the area to remain quiet until life as we know it “normalises”. We fear that opening our doors too soon (whilst there is a low footfall in the area) will result in little to no custom, so are treading very carefully with this decision. At the same time, there has been no rent relief and our insurers will not compensate us for having been forced shut. The cost of being shut has been huge; to-date we’re looking at paying over £24,000 (and still counting) with no opportunity to generate income and sustain our business. We know we are not the only ones placed in this extremely difficult position, which makes it all the more sad.
This has been an incredibly hard time for everyone in the hospitality sector, and we know we need to do whatever it takes in order to survive and help support those around us. We want to raise enough money not only to ensure we get The Queen’s Head open and back on form, but also to be able to buttress the people connected to us. We have 5 enthusiastic members of staff that we want working safely back behind the bar. There is also a network of other wonderful humans that work hard to make TQH such a special pub. Our incredible florist, Claire, has been lovingly dressing our tables since we got the keys. She has lost out on our regular custom (and on work from all her other clients in the industry) all this while. Our amazingly talented musicians, who have performed every Thursday and Sunday for the past 9 years have lost out too. We’re set on raising enough funds to generously compensate these wonderful people who have become part of the fabric of this dear old pub.
We’re kindly asking for your support at this tough time. We are forever grateful for any donation you are able to make to help save The Queen’s Head. It could be some of the beer money you’ve saved during lockdown, or just the price of a couple of pints of your favourite, everything helps! Please share this Crowdfunder page with the world and help us reopen our doors to welcome you back with full force, full consideration of your safety, and with the wholehearted love we have for our beer community and friends. Please pledge to our cause and we hope to see you for a pint and a chat, very very soon!
Donate here: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/support-the-queens-head
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For more information, contact Nigel Owen [nigel@queensheadlondon.com]