Another shop has shut down on Putney High Street: cocktail bar Boilermaker.
The premises at 12 Putney High Street have been seized by the landlord, according to notices posted in the windows by bailiffs Iridium Enforcement.
The windows and door have been covered up and the locks changed presumably for non-payment of rent, with the cocktail bar owners given seven days to remove their possessions.
It’s a sad end to what was a promising addition to the High Street and to the late-night nightlife corner of Upper Richmond Road by Putney Bridge, along with Tequila Mockingbird and Putney Pies.
Corner shop stop
The bar opened to local acclaim in December 2023 and The Boilermaker offered more of a cosy speakeasy atmosphere to flashier rivals Be At One and Simmons just steps away.
But business has clearly been struggling in recent months with deteriorating decor and broken locks on the toilets. Recent reports from locals were the bar was often empty and – the worst possible sin for a cocktail bar – that the drinks weren’t very good.
It didn’t help that the bar had to suffer through months of roadworks outside its front door, including tearing up the pavement outside to make way for a new bike path.
Footfall is already a problem on Putney High Street thanks to traffic and pollution. By the time punters reached The Boilermarker they would have already passed a series of boarded-up shops, most notably the former White Lion Hotel which sits next door and has now been closed for over a decade.
The White Lion is again up for sale after the most recent effort to purchase it fell through last year, reportedly as a result of the owner insisting on too high a price for the rundown, albeit iconic, building.
With one more shop shut and looking rundown, Putney High Street’s troubles, sadly, show no sign of improving.
