The guest
Nick Jones — Founder and CEO of Soho House, the global empire of private members' clubs
The gist
Nick Jones traces his path from a dyslexic, academically counted-out childhood into hospitality, starting at the bottom peeling potatoes in hotel kitchens. After a disastrous first restaurant called Over The Top, he built Cafe Boheme and then the original Soho House on Greek Street in 1995, funded largely by members. He describes scaling globally, including a nerve-wracking New York opening during 9/11 that David Bowie helped fund. Throughout, Jones emphasizes obsession with the member, the power of word-of-mouth, learning from mistakes, and the lifelong struggle to balance ambition with family and happiness.
Big reveals
- His first restaurant, Over The Top (1988), was a failure with terrible design, bad food and sauces, kept afloat only by loyal friends.
- Soho House and Babington House were funded by members investing roughly five grand each, and they all got their money back plus returns.
- Landlord Paul Raymond refused to invest but agreed to fund the fit-out by adding the money to Nick's rent, enabling the first Soho House.
- Nick flew to New York for the licensing meeting the week of 9/11 and witnessed the second plane hit the towers.
- David Bowie attended a hard-hat dinner on a building site and became an investor in Soho House New York.
- Soho House went public during the pandemic, with about a third of revenues from recurring membership subscriptions.
- Asked what he'd change, Jones said he would have found a better balance between work, life and family.
Things worth remembering
- Nick was diagnosed dyslexic at age 12, unusually young, and credits the early support for helping him through school.
- His school careers master simply told him 'I think it's catering, Nick' after he scraped through with very few qualifications.
- On his first kitchen day at St George's Hotel, a chef threw a sack of potatoes at him and he cut his finger peeling them.
- He made cocktails for footballer George Best while working as a barman at Brown's Hotel.
- In 1996 Soho House rented a boat in the harbour as a pop-up club during the Cannes Film Festival, pre-dating the pop-up trend.
- Early staff rose through the ranks: a former server now runs North America, and a former barman became MD of Soho House Design.
- Under-27s account for roughly 23 percent of Soho House's overall membership.
- Jones says dyslexia forces him to simplify everything onto one sheet of paper, which he sees as a competitive advantage.