"It has been the most incredible adventure": Grafton owners bid goodbye to GBPA-winning pub

The owners of the London pub named Great British Pub of the Year 2014 have announced they are to leave their acclaimed site.

Joel and Suzie Czopor, owners of the Grafton in Kentish Town, will vacate the venue next week but it will remain open in the hands of new owners, The Morning Advertiser (MA) understands.

They said: “When we moved to Kentish Town back in 2012 our mission was simple: take a down-at-heel and forgotten old boozer, restore it, lavish it with love and put it back on the map where it belongs.

"Worked tirelessly"

“We’ve worked tirelessly on the Grafton for many years and it has been the most incredible adventure. We continue to be astounded by the support we’ve received from our community, our team, our friends, our family and visitors from far and wide every step of the way.”

“We’ve chosen the new owners very carefully. They admire what we do, so they want to run it in exactly the same way.”

Current staff members will all retain their jobs when the pub changes ownership.

Street food traders

Throughout the Czopors’ tenure the Grafton hosted a range of street food pop-up traders before launching its own in-house kitchen in 2015.

The couple took on fellow Kentish Town site the Gipsy Queen in 2015 but put it up for sale less than two years later after refurbishing it and building its reputation for a solid food and drink offer.