Crown and Anchor pub, Brixton Road, Brixton goes card-only

Discussion in 'Brixton' started by boohoo, Jan 29, 2008.

  1. CH1

    CH1 "Red Guard"(NLYL)

    I was moved to purchase a pint of Camden Hells lager on my Co-op credit card this evening at the newly refurbished Two Brewers in Clapham High Street.
    Not that I normally buy beer on credit - but the £5.75 price tag knocked me back on my heels.

    The bar person helpfully commented that I could have Kronenberg or Carling on a "happy hour" tariff, but as a real ale drinker this option was rather repellent.

    I should just say I was in the Two Brewers following a group visit to the Oscar Wilde Temple on the opposite side of the road. The Two Brewers and Oscar Wilde kind of seemed a natural fit - until the choice of beers at the bar.

    I used to go in the Two Brewers a lot in the 1980s, but the last time I was in there was probably 1997 when I saw the late Regina Fong, who somehow beat me to the Brewers from her appearance at a stage show at the Criterion at Piccadilly Circus immediately before.

    I was impressed by the cleanliness of the new upstair gents, which have a nice Victorian fireplace just outside. There's a large mirror above the mantlepiece to help powder one's nose. How come the fireplace is still there, and wasn't sold off to an architectural salvage merchant? The cavernous space lined with aluminium urinal troughs made me wonder why they need enough space for 20 people to pee simultaneously?

    The Camden Hells lager was OK by the way.
    teuchter and Gramsci like this.
  2. alex_

    alex_ Well-Known Member

    It’s very clear that this guy is doing it to reduce costs, so yes - consumers.

    alcopop likes this.
  3. TruXta

    TruXta tired

    Of course he would never consider trousering the difference, no sir!
    Gramsci likes this.
  4. editor

    editor hiraethified

    So why won't you condemn a boss who is intentionally disenfranchising some of his customers - most likely the poorest ones - just so he can make more profit for himself? Or is that the kind of capitalism you like?
  5. CH1

    CH1 "Red Guard"(NLYL)

    I appreciate this thread is supposed to be about the Crown and Anchor - but as it has now diversified to cover commercial exploitation and dubious business methods I feel moved to offer another comment about the Two Brewers.

    Their re-opening after an alleged £250,000 revamp was trailed in the Evening Standard LGBTQ+ bar The Two Brewers is reopening this weekend

    What I didn't know - and only became apparent after a bit of deep Googling, is that the Two Brewers is part of the Stonegate Pub Company chain, which also includes Slug and Lettuce and Yates's.

    Guess where they are registered : Codan Trust Company (cayman) Limited, PO Box 2681, Cricket Square, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, KY1 1111
    STONEGATE PUB COMPANY LIMITED - Overview (free company information from Companies House)

    Things have come a long was since they gave away free roast potatoes on a Sunday lunchtime in the 1980s.
    friendofdorothy likes this.
  6. friendofdorothy

    friendofdorothy it is so much worse than Thatcherism now

    I could take it off your hands for you, if you like.
    Gramsci and Guineveretoo like this.
  7. cuppa tee

    cuppa tee Well-Known Member

    Considering the dearth of pubs in the area served by the one we are discussing would you be willing to concede that as they operate a virtual monopoly, [unless one wants to trek down to the Oval or up to Brixton,] they should do their best to acomodate all potential customers no matter how eccentric or outmoded their preferences when it comes to payment methods ?
    Gramsci, friendofdorothy and editor like this.
  8. teuchter

    teuchter je suis teuchter

    I have to confess, I had mixed the Crown and Anchor up with the Hope and Anchor and had thought this discussion was referring to the latter.

    I would concede that it would be preferable if they were to take cash, and I think they should be allowed to refuse more eccentric methods.
    cuppa tee likes this.
  9. marty21

    marty21 One on one? You're crazy.

    There was a pub in Hackney that allowed you to pay in Bitcoin :hmm: The Pembury Tavern I think, it's no longer the case as the Bitcoin accepting owners have now sold up.
  10. Pickman's model

    Pickman's model Starry Wisdom

    apparently the pizza there very good
    marty21 and Badgers like this.
  11. TruXta

    TruXta tired

    How many pints would a male fertile goat buy me?
    cuppa tee and Badgers like this.
  12. friendofdorothy

    friendofdorothy it is so much worse than Thatcherism now

    Last time I went the C & A pub it was mostly younger people in there, but not so bad as to make me feel like everone's gran. Perhaps this is the owners way of making us old farts with our old fashioned paper money feel even less welcome.
    Gramsci likes this.
  13. Badgers

    Badgers Mr Big Shrimp!

    Have you actually been in there much?
    marty21 likes this.
  14. marty21

    marty21 One on one? You're crazy.

    I'm an old fart and I pay in cash or card , but mostly card nowadays.
    neonwilderness likes this.
  15. cuppa tee

    cuppa tee Well-Known Member

  16. editor

    editor hiraethified

    I've been there a couple of times in the last year and my mate works there. How does that relate to the question I asked? :confused:

    But how do you feel about a card only policy, particularly in light of the points raised in the article below?

  17. snowy_again

    snowy_again Slush

    Transact are a bit better that the FIC - there's a more indepth geographical and segmented analysis on financial exclusion here: - the report's a bit old (2014), which covers the additional "poverty premium" of not having access to online financial services and explores the options around universal banking (but not the issue that some people may choose to be cash only). Alas no mention of brixton pubs.

    And a link to the London Mutual Credit Union (Lambeth has a branch) which offers CU (not bank) accounts: FAQs | London Mutual Credit Union and is more accessible than most. Notwithstanding those recently arrived migrants / asylum seekers, people without documentation etc.
    friendofdorothy likes this.
  18. alex_

    alex_ Well-Known Member

    Because it’s pathetic, I condemn Assad and trump not blokes who decide not to take cash in pubs.

    Demanding people condemn minor actions is daily express style idiocy.

    And it’s shooting the messager, the government needs to make bank accounts more accessible.

    Mr Retro and alcopop like this.
  19. editor

    editor hiraethified

    Ah right. So it's 'idiocy' to stand up for people on a local community scale? And not only do you not give a shit unless it's a global issue, you'll patronise, put down and insult anyone who does show concern because "it's pathetic."

    This is the Thatcherite, "there's no thing such as society" line in action. Except if enough people voiced their approval in multiple ways, policies like this - which encourage social exclusion - can get reversed.
    blameless77 likes this.
  20. alex_

    alex_ Well-Known Member

    Ah yes, if you disagree with me you are a Tory.

    The urban equiv of Godwin’s law.

    Winot, Mr Retro, alcopop and 3 others like this.
  21. alex_

    alex_ Well-Known Member

    “Oh no, some people on the internet are angry with me”

    Great support for the community.
  22. editor

    editor hiraethified

    If you don't think social media can have a very meaningful impact on businesses in the real world, I'm afraid you're a bit out of touch.

    But despite your efforts to belittle anyone making valid criticisms, I'll never subscribe to your selfish attitude which seems to be best summed up as, "Let the bosses disenfranchise and exclude members of my own community as I can't be fucking arsed to care or do anything to support them. Because Trump."

  23. alex_

    alex_ Well-Known Member

    Pretty sure this isn’t social media

    How dare I steal from your playbook.
    Mr Retro and alcopop like this.
  24. editor

    editor hiraethified

  25. editor

    editor hiraethified

  26. Nanker Phelge

    Nanker Phelge Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.

    I've found myself using my card more and more of late, although I dislike that every pint rings up on my bank account.

    I was in a pub in Northampton this week that still wouldn't take a card for payments under a fiver. Given that most pints in NH are under £4 that's a bit daft, but not a problem because I always carry at least £20 in cash with me at all times.

    There are lots of people who rely on cash still for all sorts of reasons (some mentioned in the BBC article and discussed quite a bit this morning on the bbc) and a 'cashless society' would exclude them and make it difficult for them (and many of them already feel excluded and have difficulties in their lives already).

    Whatever the reasons the C&A are giving it basically comes to down to the removal of choice for their customers, and it does mean some people won't be able to use the pub any longer, and that does suck. The owner has made that decision for their own benefit, and not with customers in mind at all, so it feels like a selfish thing to do, but I am sure they are not too fussed about what I think, or that I won't be going there for a drink.

    The research that informed the BBC article was commissioned by the European ATM Industry Association, so they have a vested interest in cash.

    As for me, I'm just a punter and I like to be able to choose how I pay (especially this week as I get paid tomorrow and I have £50 in my wallet, and nothing in my bank, so a card only pub is no good to me in this situation).
    Thimble Queen and editor like this.
  27. teuchter

    teuchter je suis teuchter

    It's not like the current cash system is without its disadvantages. It's fairly well known that low income (and rural) areas tend to have a much worse provision of free ATMs. For those who are on low income but do have a card then a cashless system could be better, if it ends reliance on fee-charging ATMs and also the business of minimum spends on cards.
    While for now I can see the argument for discouraging places to go cash free, in the longer term the solution surely is to demand better access to banking rather than trying to sort out the problem by focussing blame on businesses that make decisions about payment systems based on what the costs are to them of the various options.
    If we're going to condemn cards-only businesses then we should also condemn cash-only businesses or those with minimum spends because they also have the potential to exclude folk on low income. How often do you see a fee-charging ATM a few doors down from a pub? They quite clearly make money off people who rely on cash and find that if they want another pint, they either have to walk miles to get to a free ATM, pay for a whole round to get over the spend limit, or go round the corner to be charged £1.25 to withdraw a tenner.
    alcopop likes this.
  28. SpamMisery

    SpamMisery Pretty comfortable here right under your skin

    I find the real benefit of card is the ability to monitor and, importantly, modify spending habits. If you gave me £1000 in cash today, I'd probably accurately state where I spent about half of it.
    alcopop likes this.
  29. Rushy

    Rushy AKA some / certain posters

    Barclays (I think) has brought out a new service which allows card holders to block payments for certain things on their cards e.g. Pubs and gambling.
  30. editor

    editor hiraethified

    Yep. I won't be going there either. But I'm sure there'll be plenty of people here providing endless excuses why the boss's decision doesn't suck, despite the clear evidence that it will affect some people negatively.

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