A boarded-up Victorian pub in Camden Town is about to pull pints again — and the opening weekend comes with live music.
The Camden Road Arms, opposite Camden Road Overground station, will reopen at 11am on Friday, October 2, under new management. The new team is promising “pints, tunes and food”, with live music at 8pm on opening night.
“Camden, we cannot wait to meet you!” the team wrote on Instagram, signing off as Sam and the team. An earlier post teased the comeback with a wink at the pub’s past: “They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” — before adding: “The countdown is officially ON! We are just 10 days away from throwing open the doors and welcoming you all back into The Camden Road Arms after our huge refurbishment! We’ve been working hard behind the scenes giving the place a total makeover, and we can’t wait for you to see the fresh new look.”
From BrewDog to boarded up
The pub had been left boarded up after its previous operator, the craft beer firm BrewDog, closed it suddenly in March. The closure came as part of a £33 million deal that saw 38 pubs shut with immediate effect and 484 employees made redundant across the group.
It is a venue with plenty of former lives. Before BrewDog it traded as The Grand Union, Mac Bar, Rosie O’Grady’s, The Eagle Tavern and The Draft House — a roll call of Camden identities that regulars will remember.
The new deal
The pub’s freehold is held by Star Pubs, Heineken’s pub arm, which is relaunching it through its “Just Add Talent” management programme — a scheme aimed at getting landlords up and running with training, stock systems and support.
Star Pubs had advertised the venue to new managers as a ready-made pub: “Camden Road Arms is available on our Management Agreement, Just Add Talent. It combines our tried-and-tested pub concept with industry-leading training and support for you and your team.”
The pitch is that the new operators run the pub with no utilities, stock, rent or maintenance costs, while the company supplies “ready-to-go till, stock ordering and health & safety systems”. As the advert puts it: “We do the detail, so you can Think Bigger.”
What’s changed inside
The refurbishment covers refreshed décor, a new dining space, a refitted commercial kitchen and new external signage — plus a separate sports and game zone. The pub will seat 60 inside and 24 outside. Social media photos show the building has been repainted in a dark blue scheme, inside and out.
Why it matters for Camden
Camden has lost pubs steadily over the years, and a boarded-up Victorian on a main road into the town’s Overground station was a sore sight. Reopenings like this one are rarer than closures: national figures show pubs closing at a steady rate, with high costs and tight margins making it harder for independent operators to survive.
The “Just Add Talent” model is designed to lower that barrier — no rent, no stock costs, systems provided — which may explain why a site that sat empty since March has found takers. Whether the model works for a high-profile Camden corner site, with its heavy footfall and heavy competition, will be one to watch.
For now, though, the countdown is on: doors open 11am Friday, music at 8pm, and Camden gets one of its pubs back.
Anyone planning to head down for the reopening can find the pub on Camden Road, directly opposite the Overground station — hard to miss with its fresh dark blue paint job.
