Two brothers who grew up in Bermondsey with a passion for all things gaming took a gamble by taking over the former Santander bank on Southwark Park, Bermondsey, and have created a thriving hub.
One of the brother even gave up is career as a deputy head teacher to embark on this family businesses that seeing their mum often pop in with with homemade dishes much to the delight of the staff and customers that travel from all over the world to trade cards, play games and socialise.
Brothers Michael and Elias Loizou are becoming a gaming tour de force but it all started off from very humble beginnings. Elias, the eldest, went into teaching while young Michael spent a lot of time in his bedroom gaming, a choice of hobby that culminated in two shops in and around The Blue in Bermondsey.
After leaving school Michael took up hairdressing but still continued playing the trading card games. He often travelled to play his favourite game Yu-Gi-Oh, where two players battle it out face-to-face with monsters, and spells, but soon realised he wanted to develop his own community of players, with his own code of ethics, so booked venues where like-minded people could come together. The Silverlock TRA on Silwood Estate in Rotherhithe was one place he regularly rented.
With organising events and running a trading card operation the gaming side of Michael’s life took over, and when it got too much for him he talked Elias into leaving his job as Assistant Head Teacher in a Croydon primary school to help him set up a more professional business.
Elias
Michael
The branching out grew and grew, as did the trading card business, so when the trading cards took over the family front room carpet, Elias and friends helped him open his first shop in St James’s Road: ‘The business blew up within a few months and a bigger space was needed to build that community and give the players a better space to play,’ says Elias.
Their second, larger shop, The Games, was opened in Southwark Park Road where one half was given over to dining and gaming. Michael took care of the Game side of the business while Elias concentrated on the rest. ‘It was a big decision to make,’ Elias tells me, ‘but my little brother needed help. Now I realise it was the best decision for me. I brought a lot of my managerial experience in and took out a lot of pleasure from being involved.’
Mum was a refugee from Cyprus and the household is very tight-knit and family-orientated, so she also plays a part in this family concern and helps with the catering, using organic food all sourced locally in The Blue.
The menu reflects the brothers’ Greek-Cypriot background and has been infused into the contemporary dishes on offer. There’s a burger called Bro, you Know! that is based on a Cypriot street food called Sandwich of the Road and includes Lountza(Roasted cured pork fillet), Halloumi and pickled carrots, along with the usual burger ingredients. It was both different and delicious and so moreish I’ll be going back for another go. Elias talks about the meats and the breads with passion: ‘Quality at a good price is important to us – If we’re gonna do food,’ he starts, ‘we wanna do food we’d give to our own family.’
Mrs Loizou’s home-made savouries
At this point Mum turned up with home-made flaky pastry goodies that may or may not appear on the menu. ‘Mum’s a maverick’, declared Elias as he talked me through them – One with olives, another with Feta cheese and one with a spiced meat. ‘I try to tell Mum what is and what’s not on the menu but she does what she wants’. Mum had also brought in macaroni for the staff.
As I sampled the Greek delights, Elias explained that it was difficult to watch your figure in their house with mum turning out savouries such as these.
But that weren’t all, Mrs Loizou also makes the most wonderful cakes; rumour has it the French Patisserie Society are trying to headhunt her…I had a slice of something that looked so good I was in so much of a rush to eat it I forget to ask what it was!
beef short rib served with chunky potato wedges and a rich peppercorn sauce
Philly cheesesteak
Beef short rib slices served on a bed of chips and dressed with a unique peppercorn sauce
The Brotherhood also extends to Sisterhood with Anastasia, an in-law, on the team, and lifelong friend Martin, a carpenter who designed all the bespoke fixtures and fittings in the two shops. Martin even got to design the MAK Burger(£8).
From a young Michael starting his trading card business on the living room carpet the Brotherhood is now an international concern with visitors from all corners of the globe. He has taken it from dealing one trading card game(TCG) to ten, and that brings in a lot of customers. While I was there a group of French people came in to buy Japanese trading cards. I watched them opening their packets with excitement. A trio from South Africa sat with coffee and cake while they waited for their fourth member to finish shopping for cards. Others were up from the Home Counties because there are not many TCG stores outside of cities. Groups would enter and just stand and look around with awe at the display on show. A large team of salespeople were on hand to answer questions and serve.
At first it all felt quite alien to me when I saw card games being played that I did not recognise, but then I remembered acquiring rare football programmes in my younger days and the pleasure I would get from them.
The Brotherhood Games is a House of Joy with a real buzz in there as each table had a different game going on with different concepts and effects and strategies.
Elias explained that they are a tourist attraction now because fans of the hobby would always check out a TCG store when they were holidaying.
The trading of cards side is burgeoning. And complex. The grade and rarity of the cards is important and they have to be authenticated. When those basics are in place the price can rise. Elias told of a crossover between Pokémon and Edvard Munch’s Scream painting with one on offer for £23,000. He revealed that Michael still has a Pokémon collection from when he was ten.
The Brothers are discussing plans to set up a base in London for authentication of cards that offers a good service and ‘good old fashioned integrity’.
The games in the Brotherhood are chosen by the community. ‘If people come to the store and ask for something,’ says Elias, ‘and there’s interest in it, we’ll take it on board.’ He gives an example of when they began getting asked for MAGIC a lot but because of its huge following they couldn’t provide enough space in the smaller St James’s Road premises. ‘But now we’re here we picked it up and it gets players in.’
‘The most popular game collecting-wise is Pokémon,’ claims Elias, ‘while more people play One Piece and Magic that both have ‘big, big player bases who come in, sit down, play and converse… We have doctors, lawyers, unemployed, fish and chip workers… all different walks of life’. He likens the Brotherhood Games to people going to the pub to play darts. ‘We provide a safe space for people to enjoy their hobby,’ he adds, and emphasises that it is important to the brothers that the staff also have a passion for the games and can wear their Brotherhood Games T-shirts with pride.
Now in its fifth year, The Brotherhood Games has evolved over time. They organise Comic Cons, and each evening at the store is now dedicated to a specific game so fans will know when to come and play. Film nights and quiz nights are also being planned.
For most of these years Michael organised Christmas lunches followed by games and gifts as a thank you to the game community and employees. It was a way for the whole family to give back.
For Elias, the highlights of those years have been to see his brother grow, to see the person he has become and what he has achieved with limited funds, and being proud of the courage he has shown.
For 2025 – after maintaining sustainability and profits – the Brotherhood want to ‘up-level’ their staff and allow them to establish their own identity in the community, just as Michael has. More conventions are in the pipeline and there are talks about an educational side that involves the games becoming part of teaching children English. The former educator admits, ‘This will scratch my little itch when it comes to setting up the curricula…’
New Backgammon Tournament
A new venture is also about to start – a weekly Backgammon tournament because it takes Elias back to his Greek roots. ‘As a Greek not being able to play Backgammon was a huge part of the jigsaw missing for me,’ he says fervently. So he learnt himself how to play until he was ready to take on other players.
When our interview finished Elias brought out his Backgammon set, handcrafted in Athens, for a few games. He slaughtered me. I felt a need for another one of Mum’s little flaky pastry treats.
The Backgammon will open on Thursday 16th January and will be a Swiss Tournament with store credit as a prize. Entry will be £5 with a drink included. The more entrants the better the prize pool.
The Brotherhood Games, 210-212 Southwark Park Rd, London, SE16 3RX
Get your tickets here: https://thebrotherhoodgames.co.uk/products/backgammon-local-tournament-january-week-3-thursday-5-30p-m
Website: https://thebrotherhoodgames.co.uk