TV's Piers Morgan buys Kensington pub

The acquisition has been made in collaboration with Rupert Morgan, Piers’s brother and former general manager of Guy Ritchie’s The Punchbowl in Mayfair, and Tarquin Gorst, also a partner of The Punch Bowl and owner of The Rainbow Inn near Lewes, East Sussex.

Morgan has appointed former Bord’eaux at Grosvenor House Hotel head chef Couillard to oversee the kitchen.

Ollie Couillard​

The chef, who has also held head chef positions at the Dorchester Grill​ and La Trompette, has created a traditional pub menu featuring dishes such as Slow Cooked Ox Cheeks “a la Bourguignonne”, Fish and Chips, Bangers and Mash, and Chicken Parfait.

Situated near Kensington High Street The Hansom Cab, which was offered on a free of tie lease with a guide price of £50k and rent of £42k per annum, will be sympathetically refurbished to create a traditional pub environment in the near future.

Chris Bickle of Davis Coffer Lyons, who acted for the Morgans and Horst, said: “My clients have a wealth of experience in the business equaled by a passion for the great British pub. Add a dash of celebrity and no doubt the Hansom Cab will be a roaring success.”

Family trait​

Although the pub marks former newspaper editor Piers Morgan’s first foray into the hospitality industry, his family have been involved in pubs for some time.

He told the Daily Mail: “Pubs play a big role in my family. My parents used to run one in East Sussex called the Griffin Inn, and my brother Rupert has worked in the trade.

"Rupert is going to be general manager. He used to run Guy Ritchie's pub The Punch Bowl, but we decided we'd get our own place and give Ritchie a damn good run for his money. We're going to have a lot of fun.”