A LONDON landlord scoops up an extra £12,000 over the course of two days during Notting Hill Carnival, despite his pub being boarded up.
Jack Regan, 29, has been a landlord of The Prince Bonaparte in Notting Hill for four years and looks forward to one particularly profitable weekend.
When the biggest street party in Europe hits his doorstep, Regan whips out the takeaway cups and provides the carnival with enough party juice to keep it going.
He said: “It’s the third carnival I’ve done here.
“Running the pub is a very beneficial weekend financially, we make a lot of money just through liquor sales.”
The pub serves food and drink, has a wooden interior, and an island bar, but most of the money made comes from people who don’t even enter the pub.
Regan added: “The best thing is just being here actually on the parade route so when you sit outside serving you can see all the floats, the parades, the DJ’s and live music coming down.
“£12,000 in two days just on liquor sales – it’s pretty good.”
Regan, who has made roughly £36,000 worth of carnival profits during his time as a landlord for the venue does so from the outside of pub rather than from behind the bar.
He said he was very much looking forward to the weekend: “It’s a good atmosphere and it’s good fun.”
With two million people hitting the streets, the two-day carnival is thought to bring in around £300 million for London’s economy.
Locals certainly make the most out of the weekend with Regan explaining how the neighboring cafe sells pizzas out of the shop window.
Nearby convenience store owner Harry Hiriani, 50, also said he gets his fair share of business, attracting over 5,000 customers a day.
Before the weekend, The Prince Bonaparte is set to be boarded up during the carnival for protection, as the music can get so loud it can damage the windows.
This is done by many venues along the road where the carnival is set to take place.
There is also a risk of ‘insignificant crime’ as Regan describes, as spray painting and generic festival-type damages.
However, there may not be as much colour being thrown around this year with J’Ouvert, the paint party, being cancelled due to a lack of bands.
On Sunday the “Dutty” fun mas parade which includes the use of coloured paints, powders and even melted chocolate, is still set to go ahead.
Further along Chepstow road, where The Prince Bonaparte is based, construction workers have removed scaffolding from a three-storey building.
They explained it was solely for preventative measures and would be put back up after the carnival.
One of the scaffolders told The Sun that the risk of people climbing up onto the framework, especially after a few drinks.
They said it wouldn’t be the first time its happened at Notting Hill Carnival.
