Soho House reports £92m loss despite 20% rise in membership
Soho House, the private members’ club popular with celebrities including Kate Moss, Kendall Jenner, Ellie Goulding and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, has reported losses of $118m (£92.5m) for 2023.
The company, which has expanded from a single “house” in London’s Soho to 42 locations around the world, has lost money every year since it was founded by the restaurateur Nick Jones in 1995.
Soho House, which is listed on the New York stock exchange, said total revenues in 2023 increased by 16.8% to $1.14bn. The number of members increased by 20% over the year to 194,000, and the waiting list to become a member – after approval by a committee of existing members – increased to 99,000, a record high. A membership pass for access to all houses costs £2,920 a year.
“The strong results we delivered in 2023 demonstrate our continued focus on driving a better member experience and significant progress on improving profitability,” said Andrew Carnie, who took over from Jones as chief executive in 2022.
However, the company failed to turn a profit. The loss of $118m was an improvement on the $221m it lost in 2022 but was worse than the $73m loss analysts had been expecting. The losses included a $47m impairment charge against Soho Works North America, its shared offices unit. Its net debt increased from $532m to $638m, inflated by currency movements and interest charges. Shares in Soho House fell about 10% to value it at about $1bn.
The company has been targeted by the US short sellers Glasshouse, which recently warned that Soho House was “facing an existential crisis” that was “eerily similar to WeWork”, the once red-hot shared office provider that collapsed into bankruptcy. Soho House rejects any comparison with WeWork. However, some members have complained that the increase in the number of members has resulted in long waits for tables and service.
Soho House is continuing to expand. There are already 42 houses – from Istanbul to Mexico City – three Ned hotels, a beach club in Mykonos, Greece, and nine shared workspaces. It recently opened a Soho House in Portland, US, and promises this year to open others in Miami and Charleston, São Paulo in Brazil, and Manchester in the UK.
It is also opening versions of its Mykonos beach club, Scorpios, in Tulum, Mexico, and Bodrum, Turkey.
The US retail billionaire Ron Burkle’s investment vehicle Yucaipa is Soho House’s biggest shareholder, and Burkle, the restaurateur Richard Caring and Jones together own more than 70% of the shares.