{"id":6618,"date":"2026-09-29T17:57:26","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T17:57:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/?p=6618"},"modified":"2026-09-29T17:57:26","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T17:57:26","slug":"borough-markets-beer-entrepreneurs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/2026\/09\/29\/borough-markets-beer-entrepreneurs\/","title":{"rendered":"Borough Market\u2019s beer entrepreneurs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Readers may well have heard of (and perhaps visited) the iconic Rake<\/strong><\/a> pub in Borough Market but did you know that it was the site of a pub dating from 1830s?\u00a0 This year, the Rake is celebrating its 20th anniversary and so it seemed a good time to delve into its history.<\/p>\n\n\n

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It began when Richard and Mike were running a drinks wholesale business called Utobeer and they had opened a stall in Borough Market.  Richard said, “We kept getting asked if we knew of a nearby bar where they could buy the beer and so the thought was raised<\/em>.\u201d  The next piece in the puzzle was a greasy spoon caf\u00e9 located at the edge of the market.  “We used to use it sometimes.  It had two car parking spaces and we used to park our van there.  One day we found out the lease was up and we thought maybe we should consider this.  Later that day, after four pints in the Market Porter, we decided to go for it<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They started making plans, including turning the car parking places into an outside drinking area.\u00a0 Then, on looking through the plans of the building, they found out that there was a cellar and more research identified that the site had originally been tenements that included a lost pub called the King\u2019s Arms.\u00a0 Richard added, “That was to help us with the licence. \u00a0We played on the fact that we were bringing a historic pub back to life: local lads opening a historic local pub<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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The name of the new pub, the Rake, was a bit of a fortunate mistake.  Richard looked at some old local maps and mistook the name of another nearby old pub.  \u201cI thought it was called the Rake (after the Rake\u2019s Progress) but it later turned out it was actually called the Ram!<\/em>\u201d explained Richard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rake opened in 2006, alongside the Utobeer business, but in due course another opportunity raised its head. \u00a0When the Westfield Stratford City shopping centre was opening in 2011, the owners were looking for artisan food suppliers and they approached Utobeer.\u00a0 Remarkably, a pub was created in eight weeks with a brewery following soon after and so Tap East<\/a><\/strong> was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tap East brewery has won numerous awards over the years from both CAMRA and SIBA and both the Rake and Tap East pub have been regular entries in the Good Beer Guide<\/em>.  You might think that Richard and Mike would now like to rest on their laurels but this seems far from the truth.  A new joint venture is currently being planned with Neckstamper Brewery, so watch this space!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christine Cryne<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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