Daniel Craig Is Opening A London Pub

Since hanging up his boots as James Bond in 2021, Daniel Craig is expanding his repertoire – and not only when it comes to movies. As well as having more capacity to star in films outside of the Bond realm – including two more Knives Out movies, and Greta Gerwig’s upcoming adaptation of C.S. Lewis’s The Magician’s Nephew – the British actor is dipping his toe into a new world: the London pub circuit. According to The Times, Craig is teaming up with Soho House founder Nick Jones and restaurateur Charlie Carroll to take over pub The Horseshoe in Clerkenwell, east London.

Daniel Craig, Nick Jones & Charlie Carroll To Relaunch The Horseshoe Pub

Tucked away in the backstreets of Clerkenwell, The Horseshoe has been around since 1748. With its traditional interiors and dart boards, the pub has long been beloved as a real old-school boozer – but the London stalwart is soon to enter a star-studded new era. 

Craig might not be your typical landlord, but turns out he in fact grew up in the pub world. His parents ran a pub, as did his grandparents – and he spent a lot of time at the latter. ‘There were lock-ins and things, especially on New Year’s Eve,’ he tells The Times. ‘People used to party quite hard. As a kid I’d get to go down and talk to the locals, especially at lunchtime, and it was always about the day, what’s going on. It’s an outlet for people to come and talk about stuff.’ Having been immersed in pubs from a young age, Craig says he knows ‘how important they are in the local community and what they do for an area.’ 

His pub upbringing even helped him develop crucial acting skills by simply observing the characters around him: ‘I used to love sitting in a pub on my own, pretending to read a book and watching people.’

The Horseshoe idea came about following a partnership between Craig and Justin O’Shea, who launched beer brand Bad Belze together earlier this year. Alongside this, the pair were keen to find a pub to run, joining forces with Carroll – a longtime friend of Craig. Carroll brings with him a wealth of experience from the London food scene, having founded steakhouse chain Flat Iron and going on to launch wildly popular Soho pub The Devonshire.

Charlie Carroll is part of the founding team for The Devonshire, Soho

Jones’ background, meanwhile, is in members’ clubs: he founded Soho House in 1995, which now has 48 outposts dotted all over the world. He stepped down as CEO in 2022, and recently opened boutique London hotel St. Clement in 180 The Thames.

So what’s on the cards for the new Horseshoe? Of course it’ll undergo a bit of a refurb, but locals can rest assured the team are ‘going to keep it as a boozer’, says Craig. Downstairs will be a classic pub setting with some snacks, while upstairs will be a dining room – possibly with its own terrace. Naturally, Bad Belze beer will be served at the pub.

Which Other Celebrities Own Pubs?

Craig follows in the footsteps of many A-listers getting involved with pubs. The Gentlemen director Guy Ritchie runs Fitzrovia’s The Lore of The Land, while singer James Blunt – currently starring in The Celebrity Traitors season two – is at the helm of Fulham favourite The Fox & Pheasant. Since 2011 Sir Ian McKellen has co-owned historic Limehouse pub The Grapes, and Jeremy Clarkson famously runs The Farmer’s Dog in Burford, just down the road from Diddly Squat Farm (the key location for his hit show Clarkson’s Farm). 

Many others have stakes in bars: Idris Elba, for example, owns wine bar Porte Noire in King’s Cross and Lucien Laviscount (Emily in Paris) co-owns speakeasy-style bar The Wealthy Beggar in Kensal Rise.

When Will The Horseshoe Reopen?

The Horseshoe closes its doors today (8 October) in its current guise, but the team haven’t given a date yet for its reopening. Watch this space.