Walk past the old Be At One on Putney High Street and there is a new sign in the window. The building that has sat empty since Stonegate Group shut the cocktail bar in June last year is being fitted out again, this time by IMBA London, a new hospitality venture.
On Upper Richmond Road, the former Papa John’s has a Hare & Tortoise “Coming Soon” sign above its shutters. Across the High Street and along Upper Richmond Road, at least two more units are showing signs of life.
Four businesses fitting out simultaneously is the most concentrated burst of new arrivals Putney High Street has seen since closures accelerated through 2025. It does not fix two years of documented decline but it is the clearest signal of returning confidence in Putney.
The new arrivals
IMBA London Ltd is registered in Kingston, incorporated in June 2022, and classified under Hotels and similar accommodation. The concept has not been publicly announced, but the fit-out is progressing. The Be At One fascia is still visible above the new signage, old Putney giving way to whatever comes next.
Hare & Tortoise Takeaway is a more established proposition. The pan-Asian chain has been running in London since 1996 and is moving into the former Papa John’s unit in takeaway-only format. Thirty years in business is not a punt. It is a chain that has read the market and continued to chose Putney.
The original Hare and Tortoise site, slightly further along, is now a Screwfix, a different kind of confidence signal: retail and trade rather than hospitality, but a signal nonetheless. Nearer Putney station, two of the very small units on Upper Richmond Road unit are being fitted out, one of them will be a(nother) nail salon, the other’s identity not yet announced. And there has been a sudden burst of activity has also been spotted in the block next to the new M&S Food on the High Street.
The old Eastern Natural Care is becoming a temporary office for building works taking place in the former Enzo Uomo and Putney Mobile & Computer shops. The same property group owns all but one of the buildings in this block.
The building that is not part of this story
One building at 14-16 Putney High Street is not part of this picture. The White Lion has been vacant for more than a decade. Built in 1887, it is Grade II listed. It appears on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register 2025 with this assessment: condition Poor, trend Declining, priority C, “slow decay; no solution agreed.”
The building is currently listed for freehold sale at 14,000 square feet with developer drawings showing residential conversion potential. A purchase attempt fell through in March last year; the owner’s asking price was cited as the obstacle. The building sustained damage during a period of squatter occupation and faces a six-figure restoration cost.
Wandsworth Council has powers under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 to compel maintenance of listed buildings. We may rapidly be reaching that point.
The street is moving again. Four fitouts does not undo a decade of decline, and one building continues to deteriorate with no solution in sight. Both things are true at once. That is where Putney High Street stands in March 2026.
What you can do
Anyone concerned about the future of the White Lion can contact Wandsworth Council’s planning enforcement team to ask what action the council is taking on a Grade II listed building in declining condition. The Heritage at Risk Register entry and the council’s powers under listed buildings legislation are both matters of public record.
