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7 months ago
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Up to '400' squatters have moved into Marco Pierre White's disused restaurant in the heart of London's West End.
The group, who pitched up a week ago, padlocked the doors and put up a sign warning they cannot be evicted without a court order as the building was vacant.
Local business owners have slammed the squatters who were 'queuing to the back alley into the building for what looked like a big party'.
It comes after TV chef Gordan Ramsay's Grade-II listed York & Albany hotel and Gastropub in Regent's Park was targeted by squatters who claimed they were setting up a homeless soup kitchen.
Mr White's flagship restaurant in Leicester Square closed at the start of 2024 after nearly two years of trading.
Mr Whites restaurant in London's Leicester Square owned by Marco Pierre White is believed to have been taken over by squatters (pictured)
The doors have been padlocked by squatters (pictured)
A sign placed on the former restaurant by activists reiterating their squatters rights (pictured)
Marco Pierre White was awarded three Michelin stars in 1995 at the age of 33 after opening Harveys in Wandsworth in 1987 and later trained Gordon Ramsay
What are squatters' rights under UK law?
According to government guidance, squatters can apply to become the registered owners of a property if they have occupied it continuously for 10 years, acted as owners for the whole of that time and had not previously been given permission to live there by the owner.
Under UK property law, a landlord would have to apply for a civil Interim Possession Order (IPO) to force the squatters out of the property.
This can be granted within 48 hours however doesn't give the business owner full possession of the property.
After an IPO has been granted, a hearing will be set in which the squatters may attend to state whether they believe they are entitled to occupy the property.
If a property is registered, squatters must write a 'statement of truth' in support of their application. This is then sent to HM Land Registry Citizen Centre.
HM Land Registry will decide if an application is valid and will let the property owner know. The owner has 65 days to object - an application will usually be automatically rejected if they do.
A squatter will be registered as the owner of the property if there’s no objection.
Source: Gov.uk
Black & White Hospitality launched in late 2021 with the 14,500 square foot venue traded as a 'steak, pizza and gin house'.
No reason was given for the closure and customers with bookings were said to have arrived to find that the restaurant had closed indefinitely. Shortly after the closure, squatters began to move into the premises.
Ellen Leyco, manager of Jollibee, a Filipino fast-food restaurant next door to Mr White's, told The Telegraph that up to 400 people had been living on all floors of the building.
She reported the issue to Westminster City Council after rubbish appeared at the back entrance to the building.
She told the newspaper: 'The council regularly visits us. When they were here last week I told them they need to look into Mr White's because it is causing us some trouble.
'The council came back today and told me I was correct as they found 400 people there.'
Meanwhile, Joe Waller, another manager at the restaurant, told the Evening Standard: 'It’s not ideal for the reputation and image of the Square.
'There were people queuing at the back alley into the building for what looked like a big party.
“The squatters have chosen a very nice building. They haven’t given us any trouble but it’s not ideal.'
The MailOnline has contacted Met Police and Mr White's agency for comment.
Marco Pierre White was awarded three Michelin stars in 1995 at the age of 33 after opening Harveys in Wandsworth in 1987 and later trained Gordon Ramsay.
In 1999, Marco retired his career as a chef and returned his Michelin stars.
Mr Ramsay has also been targeted by squatters, with at least six people claiming they were taking over his Albany hotel to set up a soup kitchen for the homeless.
The group put a legal notice on the outside of the building, threatening action against anyone who tries to force them out. Ramsay was about to sign over a multi-million pound lease to new partners when they arrived.
Yesterday, The Camden Art Cafe, a self-styled 'autonomous' group of radical activists, were served papers forcing them to 'cancel' their soup kitchen they said they were running from the Camden eatery.
They put a post on their Instagram profile saying they had been served with papers and had to cancel their opening yesterday.
The statement read: 'Apologies to everyone who was going to come along today. Papers served, cafe cancelled!'
The York & Albany pub in Camden, north London, was taken over by squatters earlier this month who said they wanted to turn it into a soup kitchen
The self-styled 'Camden Art Cafe' announced on Tuesday that it had been served papers and could not run the soup kitchen
The pub and boutique hotel was run by Gordon Ramsay - but the chef was reportedly in the midst of renegotiating the lease
Representatives for Ramsay, who was reportedly in the midst of handing the lease for the building over to a new tenant, have declined to comment on the latest step in the squatting saga.
On Sunday, the activists said they had taken over the pub to make it available to 'victims of gentrification and parasitic projects like HS2'.
MailOnline had sought to contact the squatters for comment - but they failed to respond to requests on social media and, when approached by journalists on Saturday, ran away.
A statement released on Instagram read: 'It seems only fitting that £13million properties that most locals would never be able to afford to visit should be opened up to all.
Squatters shared images of the interior of the pub, including dogs (left) and some of the food that had been prepared (right) by the self-styled community kitchen
'The York and Albany is an iconic building in Camden since its opening in the 1820s; it has withstood wars and bombs, and despite what the media says, it will withstand the potentially short but hopefully long stay we squatters have here.
'At a time when Camden market has been bought out by a billionaire and many longstanding local businesses are being evicted from their units, it's even more important that we all band together in all the forms of resistance that we know and can.'
Donors dropped off raw supplies - including 10kg of potatoes - for the radical group as they moved into the Grade II listed pub.
Notices in the windows asked for donations and claimed that the squat was not illegal because recent changes to occupation laws only covered the unpermitted use of residential buildings.
Pictures taken on Tuesday show the building had been prepared for a fresh opening of the self-styled 'community cafe' before papers were served on the squatters.
Cans of spraypaint sat in a box on a small table in the rear room where people had been invited in last week for soup.
Cans of spraypaint sit in a box on a table in a room of Ramsay's gastropub on Tuesday
A squatter appears to be curled up in a sleeping bag at the bottom end of the bar area - a pair of trainers discarded at their feet
Fresh goods sit on a shelf in the rear of the York & Albany (left) and in crates for use in the soup kitchen
The squatters set up inside Mr Ramsay's pub, leaving rubbish lying around, setting up board games and generally making themselves at home
Ramsay had been seeking legal advice over the weekend after the Metropolitan Police said it could not intervene in a 'civil matter'.
The Kitchen Nightmares star began leasing the property in a 25-year deal in 2008, turning it into a boutique hotel and gastropub restaurant, but unsuccessfully tried to bow out of the lease in 2015.
Ramsay had claimed his father-in-law, who was then CEO of his company Gordon Ramsay Holdings had used a 'ghost writer machine' to sign his name on a document that made him personally liable for the rent. The court found in favour of Gary Love.
The Mail On Sunday reported in 2020 that the pub had racked up losses totalling a staggering £15 million since opening in 2008.
The records also reveal that the establishment made losses of more than £550,000 in just one year, to the end of August 2019.
In April 2023, Howard Thacker saw squatters take over his pub, the Rugby Tavern in Clerkenwell for eight weeks.
He suffered losses of £100,000 in damages and lost revenue after initiating legal proceedings to take his pub back.
He told The Telegraph: 'They [squatters] have traditionally chosen empty warehouses and buildings but clearly they have realised now that pubs and hotels are a lot more comfortable.'
He said that if it can't be proven that squatters have broken in, then it's a civil matter and nothing can be done.
He referred to it as a part of 'lawless London' where 'anything less than major crime doesn't seem to matter to the police'.
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