Military Club wins billionaire battle over ‘In & Out’ name

LIFE could have turned out differently for Naomi Campbell if she had followed her original dream. ‘I wanted to do dance,’ she tells me at the WE Day charity bash at Wembley Arena. ‘I’ve always been driven and my mum’s been a big part of that. She always t

The billionaire reuben brothers tend to get their own way, in the way that property tycoons do.

But their luck appears to have deserted them as they prepare to turn one of London’s most magnificent houses — the old premises of the naval and Military club, popularly known as the In & Out after the prominent inscriptions at the entrance to its Piccadilly courtyard — into a 102-bedroom luxury hotel.

the brothers David, 79, and simon, 77, shelled out an estimated £100 million for the building in 2011, initially intending to convert it into Britain’s most expensive private house, with an underground swimming pool, gym, 35,000-bottle cellar — and a possible £200 million price tag.

But last year they instead revealed plans for its transformation into a hotel, in readiness for which they had already established a company called ‘In and Out hotel Limited’.

that proved too much for the naval and Military club, whose celebrated members have included David niven and Lawrence of arabia, and which is still known as the In & Out.

Deciding to take its case to the company names tribunal, it has emerged victorious.

the club secretary, Vice admiral John Mcanally, tells me: ‘ I am delighted to report that the tribunal has recognised the goodwill that we own in the name In & Out and has now handed down a decision in our club’s favour, requiring In and Out hotel Limited to change its name to one that is not an offending name and does not include the name element “In and Out”.’

the club sold its old premises — built in 1756 for the 2nd earl of egremont — two decades ago, and relocated to st James’s square.

It playfully parades its nickname on the portico of its new building, with the words ‘In’ and ‘Out’ painted on the portico’s left and right-hand pillars respectively.

a spokesman for the reubens declined to comment, but they have one month in which to appeal against the tribunal’s decision.