Soho House is an international private members’ club with a focus on the media, arts and fashion industries.[4][5] Membership is selective and primarily drawn from these fields. Although, in London, New York and Los Angeles the clubs have become overcrowded due to excessive acceptance of new members. Following complaints from members on overcrowding and poor customer service, membership in these cities is no longer open for new members.[6]
The company operates clubs, hotels, restaurants and other venues. In 2015 it changed its name from SOHO House Group to Soho House & Co.[7] The original location is at 40 Greek Street, Soho, London, England. As of March 2024, Soho House operated 42 club locations worldwide, with plans to open more. [8][1]
History and ownership
The rooftop bar of Soho House in New York City
Nick Jones (Soho House founder and previous managing director) sold 80% of the club to British high-street tycoon Richard Caring in 2008.[9] On 13 January 2012, the Financial Times announced that 60% of Soho House Group had been acquired by the US billionaire Ron Burkle, through his investment fund Yucaipa in a £250 million deal, with founder Nick Jones retaining 10% and Richard Caring (Caprice Holdings) 30%. In September 2015, the company’s high leverage and limited free cash flow was under scrutiny by fixed income investors.[10][7][11] However, company profit potential has been affected by growth in new clubs.[12]
The company filed for an initial public offering in 2021, and went public in July 2021, trading under the name Membership Collective Group.[13] The organisation will use the money raised to pay down debt and finance further expansion.[13]
In November 2022, Nick Jones stepped down from day-to-day running of the business, citing a recent cancer diagnosis and recovery, and appointed Andrew Carnie as CEO.[14]
On March 20, 2023 Membership Collective Group became Soho House & Company. Their stock symbol changed from MCG to SHCO.[15]
As of 2024[update] the company had never made a profit; pre-tax losses for 2024 were forecast to be about US$73m.[8]
Membership
Soho House membership policies are said to focus on creativity "above net worth and job titles" with "studied resistance to ostentation...[and] cultivated status signifiers," and favour moral values over financial success ("several execs were banned because they were thought to be abusive to their assistants").[5] In June 2015, Soho House had over 50,000 members and a global waiting list of over 30,000.[11] In July 2021, Soho House had 119,000 members across 27 houses in 10 countries.[16]
Locations
List of current and planned Houses is maintained on the Soho House Web site.[1]
In 2002, the London branch of the club made headlines as Iris Law, the two-year-old toddler of Jude Law and Sadie Frost, was briefly hospitalised but ultimately unharmed after swallowing part of an ecstasy tablet she had found on the floor of Soho House while attending a children's birthday party.[24]
On 9 December 2010, American swimsuit designer Sylvie Cachay was found murdered in room 20 of the Manhattan's branch.[26] Nicholas Brooks, her boyfriend of six months, was convicted of her second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years to life imprisonment.[27]
In Amsterdam, the Netherlands, an attempt to open a new club also met protest,[28] but an Amsterdam House nonetheless opened in August 2018.[29]
In April 2021 Berlin, Germany imposed a citywide lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[30]Bottega Veneta was criticised for holding maskless indoor dance parties at Berlin's Soho House for artists and celebrities flown in from around the world.[31] Though Soho House staff complained about the lack of safety measures and regulatory guidelines,[31] management said nothing and implied that staff were not telling the truth.[32] While the company claimed that what happened was "spontaneous," Berlin's Soho House staff said that the party spaces had been booked in advance.[32][33] Club members made their dissatisfaction and disappointment known, with some considering ending their membership; police investigated.[33]
In popular culture
Soho House London is mentioned briefly in The Holiday by Jasper (Rufus Sewell).[34] Soho House New York was featured in season 6 of the TV series Sex and the City in an episode titled "Boy Interrupted". In this episode, Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall) pretends to be a member by using a stolen membership card.[35]
In 2022, Soho House was mentioned in the Netflix drama Inventing Anna, where the main character, con artist Anna Delvey, when asked if she was rejected by Soho House in episode two, she replied: "I’d rather hang out at a McDonald's or start my own club and reject their members."[36]
Soho House on 76 Dean Street was used as a location in the 2024 crime novel Crooked Was His Cane, the nineteenth DCI Declan Walsh novel written by Jack Gatland; the pen name of New York Times #1 Bestseller Tony Lee. In it, DI Anjli Kapoor meets with Billionaire tech entrepreneur Eden Storm, who comments during the meeting "Soho House has a rule that only three guests can come in at any time with a member. I told them if they didn't give me four, I would have to buy the building and evict them." Tony Lee has been an "Everyhouse" member of Soho House since 2014. [37]
Soho Home
In 2016, the club launched a 'modern interiors brand designed for relaxed, sociable living', called Soho Home.[38] The brand's flagship store located in Duke of York Square in Chelsea opened in 2021.[39]
Further reading
Eat, Drink, Nap: Bringing the House Home. London: Preface Publishing. 2014. ISBN978-1848094116.
Morning, Noon, Night: A Way of Living. London: Preface Publishing. 2016. ISBN978-1848094116.
Thévoz, Seth Alexander (2022). Behind Closed Doors: The Secret Life of London Private Members' Clubs. London: Robinson/Little, Brown. ISBN978-1-47214-646-5.
References
^ abc"Houses". Soho House. Retrieved 5 March 2024. List of current and planned Soho Houses, updated as required.
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