A FAMILY-RUN restaurant chain has been lined up to take over a historic Camden Town gay bar that was abruptly shut two months ago, it can be revealed. 

The Breakfast Club, a trendy cafe-style bar and eatery that currently serves food and booze throughout the day at seven venues across London, confirmed today that they are expecting to move in to the Black Cap in Camden High Street. 

The closure of the venue – which has been at the centre of Camden's gay community for more than 50 years – sparked protests and petitions, with hundreds taking to the street and thousands adding their names to calls to reopen the cabaret bar.

Breakfast Club founder Jonathan Arana-Morton said they had exchanged contracts with the landlord, adding: “I hope people see us for what we are – a small family business which cares about the local communities that welcome us in.”

The company, which was founded in Soho 10 years ago, decided to announce their plans after being contacted by the New Journal this week and Mr Arana-Morton described how the company felt caught “in the crossfire” and was “not used to dealing with controversy”.

In a blogpost on the company's website, he said that, after being approached by the New Journal, he had decided to “tell it how it is and rely on the fact that all the campaigning on behalf of The Black Cap has been done by an intelligent, passionate group of people who have campaigned on behalf of something they truly believe in.”

He said: “We run cafés and bars not drag venues, I wouldn’t want to patronise anyone by saying we could for one second fill the gap that is being left by the closure of The Black Cap. But we will run by many of the same principles adopted by The Black Cap – a place that puts itself at the heart of the community, that welcomes everyone through its doors.”

He added: “The truth is we (and I) have been wanting to say something for a while. I’ve been watching the #wearetheblackcap campaign from afar. That we haven’t said anything is down to the fact that we still don’t know whether we will be the next incumbents of The Black Cap. There is a lot going on we have no control over and a huge amount of uncertainty.”

He said they had been looking to move to Camden for “a while” and were approached by Camden Securities LLP – who have been named as the new owners of the site – in December. He added: “The decision to close the venue was made a long time before ourselves or Camden Securities got involved. You can form your own opinions on whether this closure was done in the right way. We have ours.”

The Black Cap was closed in April by Faucett Inn, who had run the pub for the past five years on behalf of the freeholders, a Jersey-registered investment firm called Kicking Horse Limited. A deal was agreed to sell the site to newly-formed Camden Securities at the end of last year, but it is understood the venue has yet to formally change hands.

Days before it was closed in April, it was granted Asset of Community Value status by Camden Council, a move intended to give greater protection to pubs viewed as culturally significant.

Mr Arana-Morton said: “If the sale goes through and we do move in, what we can say for certain is that we will stay true to how we’ve done things in the past. We will play an active part in the local community (we commit 1000s of hours a year to volunteering and tens of thousand of pounds to local charities). We will offer our venue to local community groups and we will open our doors and welcome anyone and everyone.”

– Squatters who took over the Black Cap earlier this month are awaiting the arrival of court bailiffs who will force them out of the property. Dressed in drag and with an electric pink wig, a member of the Camden Queer Punx was handed a “possession order” at Clerkenwell and Shoreditch County Court in Gee Street today (Wednesday). Around a dozen squatters have been living at the pub since June 3 and they held a 200-strong party at the venue last week, with many former Black Cap regulars returning.