Local Clerkenwell pub the Sekforde is under threat of closure, following a number of complaints from its neighbours.
According to the pub, which is undergoing its second licence review in five years, complaints have been made to the council regarding noise generated from the open windows, as well as the sound one door makes when opened or closed.
A representative for the pub told the Standard that the near 200-year old building keeps its windows open to allow air to flow through the pub, as temperatures can get as high as 30 degrees inside the 1829 building if not.
Harry Smith, the operator who rents the Sekforde from owner David Lonsdale, told the Standard: “We are under immense pressure from Islington council at the moment, who at the behest of a small number of neighbours complaining about the pub, are considering forbidding patrons from standing outside with a pint. We already have restrictions in place that do not allow this within view of these households, but now they are proposing no standing outside at any time.”
In a conversation with the Standard, Smith added: “This is our second licence review in five years. At a meeting last year, the council was very positive and the licensing police officer from the council was very understanding. Together we put forward a minor variation [to the licence] but the neighbours just rejected it.”
Smith says the changes sought by complainants mean the pub will close. “We just are not going to be able to operate,” he said.
Besides serving drinkers, the pub also operates the Sekforde House Trust. Funded by income from the pub, the trust supports students in financial need in London through university, and currently provides six students each year with a university education that otherwise would be inaccessible to them.
The outlook for pubs in general is presently bleak, with around 50 pubs per month closing in the first half of 2024.
The noise complaints echo those levelled against earlier this year against Trisha’s in Soho, where a multi-millionaire neighbour of the long-standing members club complained about noise on Greek Street — forcing the club to temporarily close — before reopening after adhering to a glut of new regulations.
The Standard has reached out to Islington Council via telephone and email for comment.
34 Sekforde street, EC1R 0HA, thesekforde.com
