How London became the members' club capital of the world

Times

17 hours ago

O n a recent Thursday evening in Mayfair in London, at a club with sofas so deep you feared some of the older members might never rise from them, a pair of gentlemen in Turnbull & Asser shirts reeled off their collected memberships. 'Pratt's, White's, Carlton,' they said, with the steady effort usually reserved, one felt, for grandchildren's names. 'Hurlingham, Brooks's, Turf. Beefsteak, Savile, Oswald's, 5 Hertford Street.' Perhaps 30 clubs overall, they reckoned, to which between them they had either direct or reciprocal access. 'But then again,' one said, contemplating an olive, 'I'm probably forgetting a few.'
This is entirely understandable, a lifetime of white burgundy notwithstanding. London in 2025 is liberally sprinkled with private members' clubs, both historic and newfangled, like capers across a Dover sole. It is one of the country's few thriving sectors. Although most institutions keep their rate cards close to their chests, the annual fee for a full London membership at a central London club is usually between £1,500 and £4,000 — and some can go significantly north of this. Apollo's Muse, the private club inside the restaurant Bacchanalia off Berkeley Square (a haunt of Kate Moss and Lily James), is said to be £5,000 per year, while the Bath and Racquets, the Mayfair sports club, is £8,000 per annum.