In the second part of his review of the hospitality trade in the borough (yes, dear reader, we sent him on a month-long pub crawl), KEN TOWL explores the reasons for one of London’s biggest and best-loved brewers’ sudden departure from its Croydon pubs
New Standard: the management of this Fuller’s pub only found out it had been sold when they received the new owners’ ‘welcome’ pack
What is the state of Croydon’s pubs these post-pandemic days?
Chiswick-based brewing giant Fuller’s seem to have little faith in the town’s tipplers. Very quietly, they have stepped back from four Croydon pubs that, until recently, were homes to London Pride and carried their distinctive, old-school signage.
Today, only the Crown & Sceptre on Junction Road in South Croydon (Hophead £4.85/pint) carries the full Fuller’s branding and range of beers, including the (now elusive, in Croydon) ESB. Business, on a Thursday night, seems to be lively enough. They claim to be still a Fuller’s house.
However, over at the Builders Arms on Leslie Park Road in Addiscombe, staff inform me that, “This is a tenancy. There are no Fuller’s houses left in Croydon now.”
The Crown & Sceptre? “That’s a tenancy, too, and the Standard and the Spread Eagle are no longer Fuller’s.”
Cosy corner: the management at the Builders Arms are looking to diversify
The Spread Eagle, the big boozer in the town centre, a favourite haunt of our elected representatives after a hard night’s debating in the Town Hall the state of the bins or closing our libraries, was transferred to the Whelans chain some time ago, as reported by Inside Croydon in early 2023.
But the Crown & Sceptre, the Royal Standard and the Builders Arms? All in quick succession? Just what’s going on?
If Fuller’s have stepped back from the Builders (Hophead £5/pint), its management seems to have stepped up. When I spoke to Esther Sutton of The Oval Tavern at the beginning of my quest to discover how the local pub trade is holding up, she suggested that pubs were having to up their game to compete with all the home entertainment options now available to people – and the cheaper, supermarket-bought beers and wines.
The Builders Arms is certainly trying to diversify its offer, as a look around its walls will tell you. There are posters advertising a variety of events – from “swordplay” classes for children to a Game of Thrones-themed quiz night. Meanwhile, its newly revamped website offers more quizzes, a “paint and sip” event (turpentine two ways?) and, following the glorious precedent set by The Oval, a drag cabaret on Saturday September 14.
Down under the shadow of the Croydon Flyover, on Sheldon Street, the Royal Standard is neither the Fuller’s pub that it used to be nor the independent that it feels like. But, for now at least, you can still get a pint for £4.80.
Irish-themed: Whelans lays it on a bit strong at the Spread Eagle
The Royal Standard has been stripped of its Fullers branding because it is now owned by Proprium Capital Partners, trading as Admiral Taverns, owners of some 1,420 pubs across the country. So about as corporate as you can get.
The first that the management, staff and very loyal band of regulars in the pub heard about Fuller’s sale of the Standard was when the welcome pack from Admiral dropped on their doormat.
They were given no notice from Fuller’s that they had been sold. That is a measure of just how quietly, and quickly, Fuller’s is taking its leave of Croydon.
There is silence from the brewers’ famous Chiswick offices. Neither Georgina (apparently their “corporate communications manager”) nor Alice (“PR executive”) could be bothered to respond to Inside Croydon’s enquiries about their employers’ dwindling number of Croydon pubs.
On their website, Proprium Capital Partners claim that Admiral is “the UK’s leading community pub group, located in Chester” and that “community is the heart and soul of our business. All our pubs benefit from hard-working, entrepreneurial licensees dedicated to making their pub the hub of their local community”.
A source I spoke to put it another way: “Admiral: classic pubco that milks its tenants and charges them far higher prices than they could get as a free house.”
One can only hope that the Standard can thrive under the Admiral corporate umbrella.
The Spread Eagle, in the magnificently palatial late Victorian building that began life in 1893 as the Croydon branch of the Union Bank of London, was probably Fuller’s Croydon flagship. It is now part of an Irish-themed mini-chain of nine pubs, three of which are based in Croydon (including Whelans in South Croydon, of course, and The Bedford Tavern on Sydenham Road).
Frankly, nothing much has changed in the Spread Eagle in the 18 months since it changed hands. A pint of Fuller’s-brewed HSB retails at £5.40, the atmosphere of slightly well-to-do, post-office drinking, but the lighting, the comfortable vibe all remain.
The differences become more obvious once you start to look for them. First, the non-stop horse racing on the very wide, sports-bar style TV sets, and the loud volume whenever there’s a football match on. Then there’s the faux-historical adverts for Irish whiskey and the road sign telling you that you are five miles from Ballaghbeama, a destination surely considered to be the single most Irish name at the get-your-genuine-Irish-pub-accessories-here store.
Pub of the year: the Claret & Ale has in Addiscombe been named CAMRA’s Croydon pub of the year for 2022, 2023 and now 2024
Traffic seemed light for a Thursday evening when I passed by, so it will be interesting to see if the Spread Eagle can get by on location and mild Irishness alone, but there’s the new football season and autumn’s rugby internationals coming up…
One place that the Fuller’s logo has never been near is the Claret & Ale, right next to Addiscombe tram stop. I popped in to ask the owner, Charles Reid, a former Virgin Airways pilot, how business looked from his point of view.
On entering the pub I noted the prices on the Claret’s real ale board. Palmer’s, the Claret’s permanent offer, is £4.70/pint. Half a dozen more ales are available, all under a fiver, the cheapest at £4.20.
“We very rarely have a beer over £5 a pint,” Reid said.
So, how is trade? Turnover, says, Reid, is at the same level as 2019, pre-pandemic levels.
“That’s good!” I say.
But he continues, “However, costs have increased a lot since then.”
Food offering: pubs are more than just drinking holes, with the kitchen at the Builders being inventive
He lists the prices that the breweries are increasing; it feels like every three months now, on top of annual increases, salary costs, heating costs. This very small pub can fill up in the evenings and sell a decent quantity of beer, but margins are squeezed ever more.
What is Reid doing to appeal to customers? Reid does not have the same options as The Oval, a large pub with a stage and a garden. Reid has diversified in a different way.
He points out that his clientele is itself more diverse, that there are more young people, more women than there used to be. He is understandably proud of the fact that he has female customers who feel safe drinking alone in his pub.
At the same time, he has held onto his customers of many years. He puts this down to the pub’s reputation for its rotation of well-kept cask ales and simple, straightforward good service.
Just as in The Oval, the staff at the Claret always seem happy to be there. Reid also concedes that he is lucky to be next to the tram stop and on a couple of bus routes. The fact that he has won the Campaign for Real Ale Best Pub in Croydon award 2024 will burnish the Claret’s reputation all the more – they’d also won the award in 2017, 2019, 2022 and 2023. So they must be doing something right.
So there are people who still have faith in the hospitality industry in Croydon, people like Reid, who got into the business because he loves it more than flying aeroplanes, and Sutton, who has turned round several pubs and has probably done more than anyone to make going out in Croydon a better experience for everyone. And the independently-minded management of the Standard and the Builders Arms.
Unlike those, like Fuller’s, who appear to have little faith and, perhaps, eventually, no Pride.
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It’s very simple in some ways (to an outsider at least). Both the Claret and Oval are simply well run establishments, both have good beer offerings, tidy and welcoming interiors, buzzy atmospheres and friendly staff. They do all the good stuff well, and hence why people keep coming back. Both are great pubs!
Well the ale at the Royal Standard is still of the highest quality and there’s better guest ales. It’s still just as brilliant as it’s been since Emma took over several years ago.
Agree The Oval and Claret offer a great range of beers at competitive prices. Not been in The Standard since it changed hands, looking forward to it. The Bedford has a good ambience but The Spread Eagle is still missing Whelan’s magic touch. Had a fine pint of ESB in The Builders recently. Generally the town centre boozer scene looks quite healthy (my GP would disagree) and pretty competitive with a Spoons, Market Tavern, Dog&Bull, Art&Craft, The Ship, Cronx Bar and let’s not forget Bishops in the deserted Whitgift Centre.
We have run a Fullers tenanted pub for twenty seven years , we were given one days notice that they were selling our pub to Admiral Taverns & we have never had any communication from them since. Absolutely shocking behaviour on there part.
The Crown & Sceptre is a great little pub! Good beer and food, great service and, more importantly for me, no constant blaring sports on! Really nice garden also! I do the like a Whelans but not during football time as it is just too much noise, rugby or GAA is fine though.