A pub where pints cost £6 or less is aiming to raise £40,000 to upgrade its amenities.

Carlton Tavern in North Maida Vale reopened in April 2021 following an extensive re-build to reverse its unauthorised demolition six years previously.

While the pub has proved popular with punters since, landlords Ben Martin and Tom Rees say they now need more money to improve some of the building’s “unglamorous” amenities.

Tom told Ham and High: “It’s been a really positive two and a half years, we are really happy with the way the pub is going.

“We’re lucky that we’re nice and busy but that also means that things get broken, things get worn.

“The big thing that is now coming back to bite us is the plumbing.

“If you go to a pub, you might not go into the dining room or sit in a certain chair but everyone will go to the toilet. And if they’re not great that can really reflect badly.”

The pub has launched an online fundraiser – ‘Rebuild The Carlton Tavern Phase 2’ – that hopes to raise £40,000 for the works.

The cash will also be used to “upgrade some furniture, give the pub a lick of paint” and make the outdoor area “more robust”.

The changes will be far more subtle than the retrofit that was required for the pub to reopen after the pandemic.

Tom explained: “When we first did the fit-out, the building was like the film set of a pub. It looked like a pub, but [the building] had no actual working guts – no electrics or plumbing.

“The downstairs had been turned into the showers for a local hockey team. So that was quite an expensive reversal to try and make it back into a working pub.”

As an independent business, the Carlton Tavern has felt the pinch over the last year, and now hopes the community it serves will support the improvement plans.

Tom said: “The whole industry is in a very tight spot at the moment. We are busy but it doesn’t necessarily transmit to profit at the moment. We’ve been really hammered this year.

“We’ve been trying to make our pricing as reasonable as possible and deliver a good value experience.

“But as a result we’re hoping that we can fund ourselves in a slightly different way and draw on the power of crowdfunding.

“[Ben and I] are both very optimistic about the future and the importance of pubs maintaining their place in the community and helping bring people together.”