The Packington Arms reopened on 25 September after more than 12 years shut. Bohem Brewery now runs it, pouring Czech lager until 11.30pm at weekends.

The Packington Arms on Packington Street is a pub again. It reopened at 6pm on Friday 25 September, more than 12 years after it last closed.

The new operator is Bohem Brewery, a London brewery that makes Czech-style lagers. Bohem announced that it had signed the lease on 24 July, and that the pub opened on 25 September.

What is there now

Bohem’s own page for the pub lists:

  • fresh Czech lagers, poured from Lukr taps
  • a “chladici vana” cooler bath, the traditional Czech way of keeping beer lines cold
  • two permanent cask lines
  • tables that can be booked in advance

It opens at 4.30pm on weekdays and 2pm at weekends:

Day Opening hours
Monday 4.30pm to 10pm
Tuesday to Thursday 4.30pm to 11pm
Friday 4.30pm to 11.30pm
Saturday 2pm to 11.30pm
Sunday 2pm to 10pm

The Packington Arms is Bohem’s third pub. It already runs the Nicholas Nickleby and the Queen’s Arms in Battersea, another long-empty pub it took on in 2025, alongside its own taproom.

A glass mug of pale lager on the bar under chrome taps labelled with Bohem Brewery's Sparta, Amos and Martina lagers.
Bohem's lagers on tap at the Packington Arms. Photo: supplied by Bohem Brewery.

Why it was shut so long

The building is a three-storey corner pub at the junction of Packington Street and Packington Square, with a glazed brown-tiled front. It is in St Peter’s and Canalside ward, about 700 metres from Angel station.

According to the record kept by CAMRA’s North London branch, it was once a Shepherd Neame pub. The brewery leased it out, and it ran briefly as a dive bar and live music venue. It closed when that tenant was evicted for not paying the rent. A licence review was scheduled for March 2014, and the branch found the windows and doors still covered in steel sheeting in July 2014. Over the years it has also traded as the Zenith, the Zenith Wine Bar and As Good As It Gets.

The council’s licensing records take the story on. A council report says the premises licence was surrendered on 13 December 2017. By 2025 only the ground floor and basement were being offered as a pub.

A late-night plan that did not go ahead

In March 2025 a company called The Flamboyant Collective Limited applied for a new licence to run the ground floor as “West 25”. It asked for:

  • alcohol until midnight Monday to Thursday and Sunday
  • alcohol until 1am on Fridays and Saturdays
  • opening until 1.30am at weekends

The licensing officer’s report recorded objections from the Metropolitan Police and the council’s noise team. There were 34 objections from local residents and one letter of support. Three councillors and a residents’ association also made representations.

The application was due before a licensing sub-committee on 20 May 2025. The minutes record that officers asked for it to be withdrawn from the agenda, and it was adjourned.

By June 2025 the landlord’s agents were marketing the pub to let on a new 10 to 20 year lease, free of tie, at a guide rent of £50,000 a year plus VAT. Their brochure said the ground floor had been renovated with a new bar. It described a premises licence allowing alcohol sales:

  • 10am to 11pm, Monday to Thursday
  • 10am to 11.30pm, Friday and Saturday
  • noon to 11pm on Sunday

Bohem’s published opening hours fit inside those limits.

What it means for you

If you live around Packington Street, this is a pub on ordinary hours, not the 1am venue proposed in 2025. Bohem’s latest closing time is 11.30pm on Fridays and Saturdays.

If a licensed premises near you causes a problem, you can report it to the council’s licensing team. Any resident can also ask for a licence to be reviewed under the Licensing Act 2003. The council’s alcohol and entertainment licensing pages explain how.

The pub is at 125 Packington Street, N1 7EA. Essex Road station and Angel station are each about 700 metres away.

Sources