An East End pub said to have been used by a gang who carried out one of Britain’s biggest armed heists has been given a fresh lease of life after standing empty for eight years.
The Fox in Hackney, which was once run by former armed robber Clifford Saxe, is due to reopen next month.
The new owners want to turn the corner pub into a lively neighbourhood venue after a costly refurbishment at the premises, which was shuttered up and covered in graffiti.
And they are curious as to whether the Fox may finally yield up secrets of a robbery four decades ago.
Banknotes from the £6 million Security Express robbery in Shoreditch are said to have been stashed at the pub before being moved elsewhere.
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New landlord Seamus Travers told Metro that he has noticed many nooks and crannies while looking around during an extensive refurbishment.
‘I already knew The Fox very well because a business partner had it for a number of years and it had always been a great pub,’ he said.
‘I went in to have a look round with my business partner Shaun and after being inside I just said, “Shaun, I’m in.”
‘It’s such a beautiful open space, you could say it has got a feng shui about it. When you stand there it’s incredible, it doesn’t feel empty at all.
‘It’s been an expensive project and there’s been a lot of building work going on at the premises, but my attitude is that we’re opening on September 5, by hell or high water.’
The pub was a characterful and well thought of craft beer venue, and while it will retain that element, it will also have ‘macro’ tipples and live music, Seamus said.
Irish trad music sessions are planned for the relaunched Fox, which will have a late license until 1.30am between Thursday and Saturday.
Seamus, who owns the nearby Howl at the Moon in Hoxton, expects to attract a crowd typically aged around 25 years upwards as he takes up the reins alongside Shaun Brennan.
‘Since we’ve had the doors open and the builders inside there’s been no end of people passing by who’ve been excited by pub reopening,’ he said.
‘People were worried that it would be a chain restaurant or something like that and when I’ve told them that it will be an independent pub again they’ve been like, ‘Yes!’
‘It’s been a long process and things have gone wrong, like ordering small terracotta hexagon tiles for the bathroom, which cost a fortune and took way longer to lay.
‘But when you see people getting super-excited and happy that the Fox is reopening, it makes it all worthwhile.’
The new landlords are stepping into a colourful history that includes the heist in 1983 — the year Seamus was born.
The loot from the Security Express HQ, which was known as ‘Fort Knox’, consisted of untraceable banknotes weighing five tonnes.
Saxe and his accomplices are alleged to have planned the heist from the back room at the Kingsland Road haunt, and at least some of the money is said to have been counted there after the raid.
There’s suspicion that a secret compartment at the pub was used to conceal the spoils, according to author Sam Cullen.
Only £2 million of the spoils was ever recovered.
Saxe was one of Scotland Yard’s most wanted men and part of the ‘Famous Five’ — also including Freddie Foreman, John Mason, Ronald Everett and Ronnie Knight — who fled to Spain.
The publican, who always denied any part in the crime, decided to take early retirement in the Costa Del Sol.
He died in 2002 while awaiting extradition, aged in his 70s.
‘There’s a lot down in the basement, a lot of corners, nooks and crannies,’ Seamus said.
‘I’ve not seen any banknotes yet, but you can see how the pub would make a good hiding place.
‘I’ll be keeping an eye out for any evidence of the heist.’
The new owners have taken on The Fox under a leasehold agreement with the Wellington Pub Company, who have renovated the upstairs flats.
In its most recent life, the premises was a popular craft beer venue in keeping with the changing nature of the Hackney-Shoreditch area, with a roof terrace, photobooth and beer vending machine.
Saxe’s former haunt is now among the colourful establishments featured by Cullen in his new book, London’s Lost Pubs.
Others around the capital include the Thomas A Becket, a famous boxing pub where Muhammad Ali once visited, the Old King Lud, where Dale Winton was once a DJ, and The Camden Falcon, where Coldplay played one of their first gigs.
Outside London, the controversial saga of the Crooked House in the Black Country is another example of a long history being lost along with bricks and mortar.
Pubs are being lost at an alarming rate, with the Campaign for Real Ale having previously warned of more than 1,000 closures last year — 200 more than 2023.
However Cullen feels that licensed premises have more of a ‘fighting chance’ now than compared to previous years.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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