Andrew Carnie on maintaining The Soho House empire
It’s one of the hospitality world’s greatest success stories: a global network of members’ clubs, restaurants, spas, workspaces and cinemas, with a thriving retail arm. Originally founded by Nick Jones in 1995, with one venue in London’s Greek Street, Soho House now has over 40 Houses worldwide, which have all become synonymous with the serious business of having fun. Since Jones stepped aside, taking the role of founder in late 2022, the business and its parent company Soho House & Co are now run by CEO Andrew Carnie, its former president who was also president of fashion and lifestyle brand Anthropologie.
Given that he has one of the most hectic schedules of any high-level business leader, it’s perhaps not unusual that Carnie hasn’t had much time to sit down and talk to the press since moving into the hot seat nearly two years ago. Just back from two days at the opening of the group’s latest outpost, in Brazil’s largest city São Paolo, and a few days before pop-ups at both the British Grand Prix and Glastonbury, Carnie seemed surprisingly chipper when we met this summer.
‘Since I came onboard in 2019, the major change is that the company has doubled in size,’ he says, highlighting the rapid expansion plan that’s been implemented in the past five years. ‘We’ve opened 21 new Houses, which is a lot, but we really focused on making them great and making sure they have the essence of the original in Greek Street.’
The only company to have scaled up a private-membership network with a global presence, at the heart of what it has achieved is a real sense of community, a focus on the 200,000-plus members globally who visit the clubs four to five times a week and live and breathe the Soho House ethos. ‘We obviously listen to our members a lot,’ Carnie points out, ‘and they’ve told us they want to have fun, they want to be able to flourish in their careers and they want more say than ever before in how they look after their mental and physical wellbeing.’
This has driven the opening of Soho Works: professional workspaces within or adjacent to Houses. There’s also been investment in wellness, with an effort to open more Houses with gyms and a refresh of existing facilities with the latest innovations, such as ice baths and infrared saunas.
When it comes to the clubs themselves, there seems to have been less of a radical shift, post-pandemic. ‘Life might change, trends might change, but the members still want the same things,’ agrees Carnie. ‘They want buzzy clubs that are beautifully designed, with a fantastic atmosphere, where they can connect with like-minded people, while enjoying great food, drinks and interesting events.’ That said, perhaps acknowledging criticisms levelled at the business in the past, they are improving the quality of service and food. Health is again a priority, with a third of dishes on the menus being healthy or plant-based, and a marked increase in members wanting a larger choice of alcoholic and non-alcoholic options in the clubs’ bars.
Retail has been a substantial growth area for Soho House in recent years, too. Soho Home has become one of the most influential interiors brands to launch in the past decade. It has boomed while other players, reluctant to innovate, suffered poor sales or total collapse.
‘It’s one of the ways we’ve kept things relevant,’ says Carnie, ‘by offering members and our wider audience the opportunity to create a sense of a Soho House in their own homes.’ Given Carnie’s experience at Anthropologie and other homes brands, it’s no wonder he knows what he’s doing. This side of the business has quadrupled in size in the five years since he’s started, with sales profits increasing tenfold. ‘When Nick started selling pieces, it was because members kept asking where you could buy everything and the “Barwell” crystal kept disappearing!’ says Carnie, laughing. ‘Before I joined I always admired Soho Home and the way it looked, and remember thinking there was such potential.’
Since arriving, Carnie has brought dynamism to the fore, and has encouraged a more confident, aggressive approach to the way Soho Home operates. ‘There was always this unique Soho House aesthetic,’ he says, ‘but what we had to figure out was how do you make it accessible. I wanted to give our members something that was affordable – not unattainable luxury, but without compromising on quality.’ In addition to this, he introduced an interior-design service, which is now one of the fastest growing areas of the business.
Unafraid to take bold decisions, Soho Home launched bathroom vanity units last year to great success, and aims to expand the range alongside a whole new category focused around bars this autumn. ‘The Houses continue to be the greatest source of inspiration,’ enthuses Carnie. ‘You walk into any room of any House and there’s loads we’re still to tackle. Bars were a case in point. We only currently have two bar stools across the whole collection, but we’ll launch six more from six different Houses in the autumn, and three bar units too.’
Carnie’s passion is clearly linked to the brand’s recent wins and where it’s going, and his attention to detail is impressive for someone at his level. ‘I still sign off every product and go through every prototype,’ he points out. And what does he put the business’s longevity down to? ‘It’s about staying humble, relevant and inspirational. We’re not a nightclub, we’re not a restaurant – we’re a home away from home,’ sohohome.com.
