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The Groucho Club, a favorite hangout for British celebrities, artists and media figures, is opening its first venue in the West Yorkshire countryside outside London as part of expansion plans under its new owners.
Groucho said on Thursday it planned to open a second venue at Bretton Hall, a 300-year-old Grade II listed manor house in England, rather than copying rival members club Soho House and branching out into the US and other international locations. In the Yorkshire Sculpture Park near the northern town of Wakefield.
The expansion is part of plans to revitalize the 39-year-old Soho members' club by attracting young people. Artfarm, the hospitality company founded by Iwan and Manuela Wirth, the couple behind the Hauser & Wirth gallery, acquired Groucho for £40m in 2022, promising to revive it and potentially expand overseas.
Artfarm chief executive Ewan Venters said the new venue, scheduled to open in 2026, could be Groucho's “most exciting venture” since it opened in central London in 1985. The original club, which has around 5,000 members, has been a hangout for celebrities including actor Stephen Fry, model Kate Moss and artist Damien Hirst.
Groucho charges London members an annual fee of £1,500 and an entry fee of £550, with discounted rates for younger members, according to figures seen by the Financial Times. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization were £1m, and revenue will reach £7.9m in 2022, according to the latest company accounts.
Rates for Groucho Bretton memberships have not yet been determined, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Still, the surprising move to the West Yorkshire countryside is in line with the expansion of Hauser & Wirth, which has moved the contemporary art gallery from its first location in Zurich to London and New York. The company then established an outpost in 2014 in a group of renovated farm buildings in the English country town of Bruton. The launch has had a boost to local property prices in Somerset.
Wakefield Council Labor leader Denise Jeffery said she was delighted that Bretton Hall “will enter a dynamic new phase in its history, enhancing our area's reputation as a cultural hub”. The project will be developed in partnership with local property developer Rushbond, which also owns the Leeds Corn Exchange shopping centre.
Expansion has proven tricky for other members clubs, who want to strike a balance between maintaining exclusivity and generating additional revenue. Soho House's first location, just 60 yards from Groucho's, was criticized last month by a short-seller who claimed “the rapid expansion of Soho House's membership base and global footprint has raised concerns that exclusive experiences may be diluted” “. The report hit the New York-listed group's share price.
Groucho Bretton will also have 40 hotel rooms available to non-members. Soho House is also planning to open its first venue in the north of England in Manchester later this year.
Artfarm operates venues in Mayfair, London, several country hotels and pubs, and a restaurant in Los Angeles.
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