London’s oldest pubs earn a mere £60 at lunchtime while Fleet Street becomes a ‘ghost town’

London’s oldest Fleet Street pubs could be closed after more city workers shun office life and opt to work from home. The bosses of some of the legendary street’s old pubs say they make as little as £60 at lunchtime.

Before the pandemic, pubs would have been packed with city lawyers and office workers. Several pubs remained closed after the lockdowns, including Tipperary, London’s oldest Irish inn, built in 1667.

And employees who come into the office on certain days have made Thursday evenings the new favorite time to have a beer. Pubs are desperate for new ways to attract customers.

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Scott Custis, who started working at the Old Bank of England pub in December 2019, said the 136-year-old was struggling.

He said: “It just made everything so unpredictable. You used to be able to set your clock when you were busy. When I got there it had a rush every night. Now we don’t have it anymore. It’s like being in a country pub. It is very strange for this area.”

During the lockdown months, the pub spent £2million on refurbishments and even had a vintage red double-decker bus craned into the garden.

But the London bus has remained mostly empty, even as the pub reopened.

Scott added: “It’s like the bus is the last night bus. All of our bookings ended last Christmas. We closed a few hours early because everyone is out.”

Elsewhere, the Ye Old Cock Tavern was often deserted. Before the pandemic, the pub was a regular lunch spot for business people and tourists, but when the Local Democracy Service visited, only one group was there for lunch.

Leila Armstrong, bartender at Ye Old Cock Tavern, said: “These are the first customers I’ve had for lunch all week. After those groups are gone, I don’t think I’ll have anyone else before five.

“We used to have very busy lunch breaks. We took in £1,000 at lunchtime and now we’re making around £60. Fleet Street is in trouble. It’s like a ghost town.”

The pub now opens on Saturdays to attract tourists.

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The iconic street that served drinks to Geoffrey Chaucer and Henry VIII throughout its rich history is now deserted after 7pm.

Many office workers have instituted a “TWaT week” – they only go to the office on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Punch Tavern bartender Isabelle D’Ambrosio said the town’s workers barged in on Thursdays, but the rest of the time the pub was quiet.

She said: “We’ve had to close here a couple of times. Maybe we open on Saturdays. [On Thursdays] It gets around 8pm and you have a rush of people. We sell about 50 to 100 pints.”

Nearby Pub Albion told the Local Democracy Service they now do three times as much business on a Thursday night as they do on a Friday.

Transport for London said commuter numbers were still reasonably normal at the end of January.

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