A proposed new Guinness brewery in London’s Covent Garden has come a step closer to fruition after Westminster councillors approved a planning application by owner Diageo.
The £73 million proposals, which include a bar, a learning space and a micro brewery, are scheduled to be opened in 2024 and are expected to attract as many as 450,000 visitors per year.
Councillor Ruth Bush, chair of the Westminster Major Applications Planning Committee, said she had decided to approve the planning application despite being underwhelmed by Diageo’s architectural proposals.
“I’m disappointed that the thinking that’s gone into this and the claim that there’s a real desire to become familiar and respectful of this area...that was expressed earlier and [yet] this is what we are presented with when we had indications that there were other options that would reflect the area better,” she said.
“I have a sense of disappointment...but this was an industrial building and I think it’s possible to interpret this [design] as reflecting that.”
Diageo’s proposals, which had been revised following objections by local residents, had been met by concerns expressed by a number of local organisations including Camden Council and the Covent Garden Area Trust.
In its response the Trust said: “The proposed roof structure still represents an oversized and over-dominant addition to this important group of buildings within the Covent Garden Conservation Area.”
“The proposal would fail to respond to the prevailing character and appearance of the area.”
A number of local businesses, including local steak restaurant Hawksmoor, expressed their support for the plans.
Diageo made a number of revisions to its original plans to appease locals, including reducing the height of its proposed rooftop bar and cutting back the opening hours of the venue.
In January, the Guinness, Jonnie Walker whisky and Smirnoff vodka owner posted an 18.4% rise in reported net sales to £9.4 billion in the six months to the end of 2022, with organic growth of 9.7%.
The London-based firm sounded an upbeat note in relation to sales of Guinness, which it said had become the most popular beer in British pubs, responsible for at least one in nine of every pint sold in the UK.
