The Cider Tap at London’s Euston Station is to be replaced by the Northern Tap that will celebrate British beers from outside the capital, predominantly from the north of the city.

This will coincide with a complete overhaul of the site, which will also involve a major investment in its sister pub the Euston Tap that will relaunch with a new look.

This follows a renewal of the leases on the two sites by Pivovar Group that has worked hard to gain a nine-year agreement. As part of the deal Jamie Hawksworth, co-founder of Pivovar Group, says two “enormous” windows are to be installed in both buildings that will replicate the original windows that were replaced some years back with much smaller alternatives.

This will result in airy new interiors to both bars and form part of a general refurbishment of the two sites including new toilets. “I refused to look at Trip Advisor because of the remarks about the toilets. But we didn’t want to invest in them while we negotiated [for 16 months] the new leases. We’ll now be spending lots of money on the interiors and the toilets,” says Hawksworth.

Although the Cider Tap “makes good money” he says there is a much greater opportunity to be had from switching to beer. The focus on Northern beers had always been the plan for the Euston Tap when it opened five years ago but Hawksworth says it was overtaken by the explosion in the number of London-based craft brewers.

While the Euston Tap will continue its focus on the capital’s brewers, as well as US beers, the Northern Tap will highlight other breweries from around the UK – particularly those in the north. “Euston is a gateway to the north and so whenever we put the likes of Marble on it flew out the door. This will now be the focus of the Northern Tap,” he says.

The Cider Tap will be closed for a period of four to five weeks as it undergoes building works and will then be followed by the Euston Tap, with both bars expected to be trading with their new looks by the end of April or early May.

Glynn Davis, editor, Beer Insider