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There are Wetherspoons in all kinds of places. In London alone you’ve got one in an old theatre, a ballroom and a grand Union Bank. Now, London is getting a brand new ’Spoons in a building with a slightly seedier past: a former strip club in Euston.
Camden Council has given the pub chain the go-ahead to open a pub in the vacant SophistiCats venue near Euston Station. Named The Captain Flinders, it’ll open on Eversholt Street, although the date of opening hasn’t been revealed yet. SophistiCats lost its licence after one patron complained of losing £50,000 in two hours in February 2022.
As you might expect, some locals are concerned about the potential noise and disruption a Wetherspoons could bring to a residential area. Councillor Edmund Frondigoun expressed concerns about the pub opening near the residential street Doric Way, as well as interfering with the queues for nearby Roti King.
Frondigoun told Wetherspoons: ‘Please treat it as a pub in a residential area, there is a very vibrant community here which needs to be respected as well.’
JD Wetherspoon legal director Nigel Connor responded: ‘We don’t approach our venues on a cookie cutter basis and we have experience of pubs in residential areas.’
He added: ‘It is rare that we get complaints from residents – if they do arise, we take appropriate action.’
Connor said that trained door staff would be there to stop wayward punters from heading toward the Roti King queue after having a few drinks at ’Spoons. He also pledged that neighbours would be invited to the pub to meet the staff and that they would hold a meeting with residents six weeks before opening.
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