TEDDINGTON’S LION PUB MAKES NEWS IN THE SUNDAY TIMES
The Lion pub in Wick Road, Teddington, which has proved to be a massive success after being saved by the local community was featured in the Sunday Times home and property section under the headline: “The community that clubbed together to save it beloved pub.”
The article states: “The closure of Britain’s pubs is becoming a depressingly common scenario, as the cost of maintaining expensive buildings, along with the impact of the government’s tax rises on businesses, makes them increasingly unviable for landlords. According to the British Beer and Pub Association, an average of two UK pubs closed every day in the first three months of this year — a 26 per cent rise on the same period in 2025.”
It tells how Peter Scott, the managing director of a media and events company, who lives nearby ‘didn’t simply take the closure lying down.’
He told the newspaper: “It was sitting on the market and nobody was buying it, so I sort of got to thinking: ‘Well, is there something we can do about this?’” he says.
The Lion had been on Rightmove for well over a year following its closure in late 2022 without any prospects of reopening.
Scott and another parent from his children’s primary school, Gareth Coady, arranged a meeting at Sacred Heart primary school 400 yards away.
“Amazingly, we got 200 to 250 people that came to listen to us. We talked to them about why we wanted to save it and we asked for support.” A total of 15 potential investors came forward with each agreeing to take a shareholding of at least £10,000 and others much more.
The consortium entered talks with the estate agent, explaining their ambitious plan, while putting together their limited company and collecting the finance took several more months. Eventually, in August last year, almost exactly three years after it closed, they celebrated buying the Lion from pub group Stonegate for “considerably less” than its initial asking price in 2022.
The article goes on to say that the new owners used local contractors, who were also parents at Scott’s children’s school so had “emotionally invested” in the project. “They worked fast while volunteers helped by rescuing the garden tables, chairs and refurbishing beach huts at the back of the garden, turning them into bespoke seating booths.”
You can read the full article here: The community that clubbed together to save its beloved pub