Drinkers pay up for the whole pub

Five friends clubbed together to buy their local pub when they feared it would be sold and lose its individuality.

They raised £175,000 to buy the licence for Islington's Marquess Tavern when it went up for sale, each putting up £35,000 to £40,000 to outbid rivals for the Regency-style building.

The five, who are all lawyers, are offering advice to community groups and regulars who want to save their pubs from closure. One of the group, Andrew Thornton, 37, said they were in the pub one evening last year when they heard the licensee was selling up.

"We were mortified," he said. "This is one of the best real ale pubs around and it was where we all met regularly for a drink. One of our group said, the only way to keep this a community pub is to buy it'. You hear of people buying their local village post office. Why shouldn't we buy our local pub?"

Mr Thornton, with James Potts, 38, Nigel Doughty, 39, Damien Brown, 42, and Ben Shaw, 32, bought the Marquess last July and closed it for three months to give it a makeover. Since reopening it has earned enough through drink and gastro food sales to employ 18 members of staff.

Mr Thornton said: "We've all got good jobs and we're prepared to wait a few years to get our investments back — we're not out to personally make a profit out of this. We just want to keep the pub in the community."

The group meet once a week — over a beer in the pub — to discuss the operation, although their role is mainly backstage. "I won't be giving up the law. This is just a hobby," said Mr Thornton.