India Club hopes to hit £100,000 after exceeding crowdfund target

The India Club in London now hopes to crowdfund £100,000 after reaching its £25,000 target with 16 days remaining.

The crowdfund had reached £26,699 with donations from 929 supporters at the time of writing, after having launched last month to support the restaurant and bar in a legal battle with its landlord.

The venue, at 143-145 the Strand, the same building as the Hotel Strand Continental, said it needs at least £50,000 to stay afloat and to continue the fight against Marston Properties, which is seeking its eviction. It urged people to “keep sharing and contributing” for it to meet the new target, “which includes our estimated total legal fees”. Any extra funds or costs recovered will go to rent costs.

In 2018, Westminster City Council rejected the landlord's previous redevelopment plans, but the family that runs the restaurant said Marston seeks to run its own hotel from the property or threaten an 80% increase in rent.

The India Club was established more than 50 years ago by Krishna Menon, India's first high commissioner to the UK, with founding members Lady Mountbatten and prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. It was a meeting place for leading figures associated with post-independence India.

Three generations of the Marker family have run the India Club for the last 23 years. It is now run by proprietor Yadgar Marker and his daughter, general manager Phiroza Marker.

See more details of the crowdfund here.

A spokesperson from Marston Properties previously said that the group originally purchased it with the intention of running it as a hotel one day. They said the group has for some time “been concerned about the viability and condition of the building”, that Marston and leaseholder Goldsand Hotels were unable to achieve “a mutually agreeable solution” and that, “as the landlord we are entitled, following the expiry of Goldsand Hotels' lease, to regain possession to occupy the building for our own business use”.