For Pub of the Week, we head over to Chorlton to visit an 1800s-era building now operating as a lively pub
Jonny Booth and Rupert Hill have run the Lloyd & Platt pub in Chorlton for two years now(Image: Submitted)
The pub industry is facing a difficult start to the year. With rises on alcohol duty set to come into place in just a matter of weeks, ahead of other big changes with the budget, there are fears that hundreds of pubs will be facing closure this year.
Tax specialists reported that one pub a day had permanently closed within England and Wales in 2025, with UKHospitality now warning that another 540 pubs are expected to call last orders this year. But, as we said last week, pub owners and operators are having to just power through and do their best until things are confirmed, including any potential additional plans for support.
Our Pub of the Week feature is shining a light on the very many great pubs in Greater Manchester who are doing something special and keeping the lights on in difficult circumstances. This week, we’re heading to the Lloyd & Platt pub in Chorlton, which has an expansive history behind it and has also recently become a bit of a hotspot for live music and events.
Owners Jonny Booth and Rupert Hill, who many Coronation Street viewers may recognise for his role of Jamie Baldwin from 2004 to 2008, took over the venue, on Wilbraham Road, two years ago and have helped establish it in the area. The pair are also behind Northern Quarter favourites The Castle Hotel and Gullivers.
The Lloyd & Platt pub, on Wilbraham Road in Chorlton(Image: Lloyd & Platt)
Described as a ‘proper Chorlton local’, the pub features an expansive and delectable menu from the Good Food Guide featuring Chapati Café, offering up a range of Indian street food dishes including a popular Desi-style Sunday roast. Drinkswise, there’s the usual JW Lees partner selection as well as brews from the likes of Boilerhouse, Cloudwater, Thornbridge, Salt, and Seven Brothers. With Jonny and Rupert both being sober, the drinks menu also features a well-thought-out no-and-low range too.
But far from just being a pub, Lloyd & Platt is also a hugely successful live music venue in the form of its upstairs Kamera Ballroom, which it hosts gigs, discussion events, album launches and a whole load more. It also hosts comedy nights and spoken word shows.
Here, Jonny and manager Kane Martin tells us a little more about the goings-on at Lloyd & Platt, including some of their very famous patrons and guests, as well as a bit of suspicious moving-about which can best be attributed to something paranormal.
How did you get into the pub industry in the first place?
I’ve been managing bars since I was 18 at university. I graduated and tried two years in the ‘so-called’ professional world and realised that I wasn’t someone that could hack 40 years in an office. So, I burned that all to the ground and just went back to bar work. I ended up at Matt and Phreds and it just went on from there really, whilst balancing music at the same time.
Rupert and I came to owning our places as we worked together in a band, called Biederbeck. When the opportunity to take over the Castle arose in 2009, we just went for it!
The pub building dates back to the mid-to-late 1800s when it was first built as a hotel and clubhouse(Image: Lloyd & Platt)
What is the significance behind the pub’s history and name?
I think it opened in the mid-1800s, i’ve got 1848 in my head.. Lloyd and Platt I think one of them, maybe Platt, owned the land, and i think I think Lloyd built the building and operated it. It was called the Lloyd and Platt hotel, but it eventually got shortened to Lloyds and we’ve reinstated that.
The building was originally built as a clubhouse and hotel around the mid-to-late 1800s by George Lloyd, who owned the land, and builder James Platt. It was designed by E.J. Thompson, and has Grade II-listed status due to its significance.
It was originally called the Lloyd and Platt hotel, but it eventually got shortened to Lloyds and we’ve reinstated its original name now.
When we took it over, we converted the function room into a ballroom, which is now called the Kamera Ballroom. Because of that space, we’ve been mithering the JW Lees brewery to let us have it and eventually we did!
What’s your best-selling drink?
Guinness, as is everywhere at the moment. We’ve got a really good non-alcoholic selection. Both Rupert and I are sober so it is a big thing for us to have a good lo-and-no range. We’ve found that so many younger people don’t drink alcohol now and it’s time for hospitality to reposition the pub as not just somewhere to get absolutely a**e-holed.
We have a couple of really good low-and-no drinks, like Lucky Saint lager and Guinness Zero. We’ve got Lazer Crush by Beavertown and Tiny Rebel’s tropical hazy IPA Clwb Tropica is always a big hit.
Owners Jonny Booth and Rupert Hill have reinstated the pub building’s original name(Image: Submitted)
What’s an unusual thing that’s happened at the pub?
There’s been nothing particularly random or unusual, really, but we have had some pretty good shows here! Kane’s partner, Hayley, runs a gig promoter called Altville and they try to highlight a lot of cutting edge talent, and also pair them up with some heritage acts.
We’ve got Mark Radcliffe, from BBC Radio 2 and 6Music, coming up soon that we’re looking forward to. We just want to make the place accessible, rather than elitist.
Have there been any famous or notable guests who have visited?
We’ve had quite a few people from the Coronation Street cast visit, thanks to Rupert’s connection.
Badly Drawn Boy has visited us a few times, and we’ve had the likes of Robyn Hitchcock and Colin Newman, of Wire, play shows here. We’ve had some pretty tasty names – it’s getting pretty cool.
What is it about your local community that you love?
I think Chorlton is famous for its general left-of-centre-ness and creative-ness and inclusive-ness, and that’s something that we’ve been really keen to get involved in and represent with what we’re doing here.
We just kind of felt like a big chunk of people living in Chorlton are creatives who were sick of town and wanted a bit of green, but there wasn’t really any creative or dedicated provision for those people. So, we wanted to bring that here, that was the real driving force for it.
The Lloyd & Platt pub, on Wilbraham Road in Chorlton(Image: Lloyd & Platt)
Have there been any spooky or haunted encounters in the pub/area?
It was originally opened as a hotel and, on the top floor, there’s still some of the original rooms which are now derelict – they are very reminiscent of Kubrick. One of the rooms has a chair which is always in a different place every time we look. We don’t trust that haunted chair!
How can people support their local pub?
Just show up, i think! The costs are ever rising. I’ve been doing this now 16 years and every year gets a little bit harder. This January is as bleak as it’s been. Everything feels like it’s gone off a cliff since New Year’s Eve.
It’s just about trying your best to support your local and your live music scene. As we have sadly seen too many times already, if you don’t use it, then you will lose it. We know it’s so difficult for people at the moment to choose whether to put petrol in their tank or pay their electricity, but even just coming in for a lime and soda is an act of solidarity!
Lloyd & Platt is on 617 Wilbraham Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, M21 9AN.