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End of an era as Cronx Brewery opts to close its Boxpark bar

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The Cronx Brewery is quitting Boozepark.

Time please!: The Cronx Bar is calling last orders on Monday

The New Addington-based brewers have rented a double unit at the council-subsidised food and drinks shed next to East Croydon Station since it opened five years ago. Getting a young business so closely associated with Croydon to open their first bar was regarded as a coup for Boozepark’s founder, Roger Wade.

But yesterday the brewery’s management issued a statement saying that they would not be renewing their lease.

The Cronx Bar, in a prominent outside location on Dingwall Road, quickly became a staple, go-to venue among the various street food vendors in Boozepark from its launch in October 2016. By 2018, their real ale offering had earned them an entry in the Campaign for Real Ale’s Good Beer Guide.

While the brief statement issued by the brewers yesterday blamed “several factors, as well as the coronavirus pandemic”, the timing – as many businesses, particularly in the hospitality sector are returning to full-time operation – appears odd. The brewers say that they hope to have another Croydon bar open “sometime in the future”.

Cheers: The Cronx Bar was a go-to place for real ale fans

Sources close Boozepark suggest that among those “other factors” behind the decision could be the ongoing dissatisfaction shared by some other tenants over the way in which they are treated by the venue’s management when they stage their own money-spinning large-scale events, including screenings of major football matches or the finale of Love Island.

“All of us at The Cronx Bar would like to thank you all for your support and custom over the past five years, we could not have done it without you,” yesterday’s statement from “The Cronx Team” said.

“Due to several factors, as well as the coronavirus pandemic, we have decided not to renew our lease with Boxpark when it comes up for renewal in September.

“We will therefore be closing the bar from Monday September 13.

How the Cronx Bar announced its own demise

“We are hopeful to be able to welcome you to a new Cronx venue sometime in the future, but until then you can continue to support us by ordering beer direct from the brewery online and by keeping up to date with our latest news by following us on social media channels.”

It was claimed in 2012, when Mark Russell and Simon Dale founded the Cronx Brewery from premises on an industrial estate on Vulcan Way, that it was the first brewery to open in Croydon for more than a hundred years. The Cronx was certainly the borough’s first commercial brewery operation since 1954.

They now brew five beers, as well as a range of seasonal and one-off brews, but from Monday will no longer have their own retail outlet for their much-admired products.


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