Uncertainty Over Future Of Chiswick Sports Bar

Owner had hoped to open on former 1820 premises

Plans to open a Number 1 Sports bar in Chiswick are uncertain as the deal has not been finalised, the bar owner has said.

Duncan Townsend, who lives in Chiswick, had planned to open his second sports bar on the site of the former 1820 pub on Chiswick High Road this month but he says now he does not know if the sports bar will go ahead.

He told chiswickw4.com; "The current leaseholder had verbally sighed off the agreement for us to take possession of 1820 and all that was needed was cofirmation from the board. But the meeting was due to take place end of August and we haven't had any correspondance with them since then, despite sending hundreds of emails and phone calls."

Asked about the fact that the No 1 Sports Bar in City Road had closed, he said the company was still operating.

"I'm sure alarm bells rang with the public when our Sports Bar at No 1 City Road closed down. This was due to unforeseen circumstances- the closure was out of our hands. We have a temporary site at 23 City Road,and are actively looking for new sites to continue our brand. The company is still in operation."

He said he had gone "from excitement to despair" in the past few weeks.

"I so want it to happen in Chiswick but I have no idea why they didn't come back to us."

It is understood that the lease on the premises, which was previously the 1820 bar and prior to that a Revolution bar, had another sixteen years to run. A property company had also expressed interested in moving into the premises.

Mr. Townsend said he had planned for the All Blacks rugby team to visit the Chiswick bar, and had other plans to involve local rugby and sports clubs so that the bar would be part of the community. He said he would still love to open in Chiswick but it looked very uncertain at the moment.

We are attempting to contact the leaseholder for comment.

October 10, 2014