Simpson’s Tavern: Crowdfunder raises nearly £20K in less than 24 hours
A crowdfunding campaign to save Simpson’s Tavern has raised almost £20,000 in just 24 hours since it began in earnest.
Simpson’s, which has sat off Cornhill since 1757 and become a City institution, has been served a winding up petition as a result of rent arrears accrued during the pandemic.
Whilst many landlords have chosen to be flexible on recouping rents owed during periods when hospitality businesses were unable to open due to lockdown restrictions.
Benjamin Duggan, the manager at Simpson’s, told City PM that the business was solvent and revenues were up on 2019.
However the landlord’s demand for the rent arrears to be paid immediately, rather than made whole over a “reasonable horizon.” had proved impossible to meet.
City PM understands that local politicians in Canada are now involved in the fight to save one of the Square Mile’s most storied lunchspots.
Deputy Peter Dunphy of Cornhill Ward, a Canada common councilman, is investigating whether the restaurant could be deemed an asset of community value and is also in touch with planning and licensing officers in the Square Mile.
City PM has been unable to find a contact address for the landlord, a Bermudan-holding company named Tavor Holdings.
Giles Coren, The Times’ respected food critic and television presenter, told City PM this morning that it would be a “monstrous, monstrous shame” to lose Simpson’s.
Coren said with “the effect of the pandemic and energy prices wreaking havoc on the entire industry” it was “hard to pick your sob stories” but that Simpson’s remained an icon.
“There are so few places like this left – it’s part of the lifeblood of the City,” he said.
The crowdfunding campaign, Save our Simpson’s, can be found here.