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Org Charts and Teams
Hello and thank you for your question about the organizational structures of private clubs such as Soho House, Core Club, The Battery and Neuehouse. These businesses are known for keeping financial and employment data to themselves, and as they are all private companies, they are not required to disclose any of this information. However, I have managed to piece together some details based on media coverage, investment deals, LinkedIn and names that these companies have chosen to make public.
As the original and largest company in this sphere (among modern-concept private clubs), I have focused first and foremost on Soho House, followed by the others you inquired about.
I was unable to find information on which positions were hired first, nor specifics about reporting structure, however, the position titles do give a sense of how the hierarchy within each organization works. I have provided a large number of LinkedIn profiles as part of my research. Where positions have no attached profile, it means that I was able to find a title, but that the personal profile was private.
SOHO HOUSE
Soho House was founded by Nick Jones in 1995. He has brought on several partner/ investors since the company's inception, notably Richard Caring, a fashion and hospitality leader, who joined him in 2008, and Richard Burkle, whose Yucaipa investment firm purchased a majority stake in the company in 2012. Jones, Caring and Burkle raised an additional £40 million in investment funds in late 2016 and in 2017, Permira Debt Managers, who had been a financial stakeholder in the company since 2013, agreed to refinance Soho House through a "£275 million private senior secured loan" with "an additional £100 million which will be potentially available to finance further global expansion of the business".
The company currently has four listed Directors:
Richard Caring: Director and CEO
Peter McPhee: Chief Financial Officer
James Lawrence: Director/ Accountant
Nicholas Jones: Company Director
There is no detailed organizational chart available for the business, however, based on profiles available on LinkedIn, management seems to consist of a small corporate group, followed by regional or national groups, with daily management devolving to individual properties.
What is below is not an exhaustive list (a complete listing, 10 pages, of employees listed as working for Soho House Group at all levels, can be found here), but should give an idea of how the company divides its responsibilities. Wherever possible, I have given examples of individuals currently occupying these positions, in order to give you an idea of what sort of background and qualifications are required for each one.
LOCATION POSITIONS (INCLUDING INDIVIDUAL EXAMPLES)
Each of the below positions appears to exist at each of the company's 18 properties.
Membership Services Coordinator - First point of contact for membership applications (e.g., Megan Spain, Chicago)
A/P Purchasing Manager
Staff Accountant
REGIONAL/ NATIONAL POSITIONS
Engineering Manager
Design & Development Manager
CORPORATE POSITIONS
Group Operations Director
Quantity Surveyor
CORE: Club
Founded in New York by Jennie and Dangene Enterprise in 2005, Core is a very upscale club, with an initial membership fee of $50,000 and annual fees of $17,000. Core has one location (Manhattan) with 80 employees as of 2016, all of whom went through a multi-stage interview process that included testing for such things as emotional intelligence.
Adrienne Loia - Membership Services
Meg Rhodus - Private Events
Director of Culinary Operation/ Executive Chef
Information and Intelligence Systems Manager
Event Manager
Event Coordinator
Membership Coordinator
Expeditor
Banquet Captain
THE BATTERY
The Battery is a single-location private club in San Francisco, founded in late 2013 by Michael and Xochi Birch. (Much of the club's media coverage dates from the time of its opening.) Compared to CORE: Club, The Battery is relatively affordable; annual membership fees are $2,400, but prospective members must be nominated by existing members.
The Birches have placed an emphasis on diversity in their club, including making "scholarships" available for applicants who need help covering their membership costs. Along with Michael and Xochi Birch, who are listed as both the founders and General Managers of The Battery, the following personnel are listed on the company website:
Thomas Moller - Director of Art
Christopher Tassan - Director of Wine/ MOF Sommelier
Stephen Flowers - Membership Director
Stacy Horne - Director of Member Events
Caitlin Zimbrick - Gym and Spa Manager
According to SF Gate, they also employed the following people at the time they opened, although it is unclear if they are still with the company:
Ken Fulk - Creative Director
Tex Doughty - General Operations Manager
Jason Arbusto - Chef
There are no LinkedIn listings for The Battery.
NEUEHOUSE
Unlike the other entrants on this list, Neuehouse offers shared office space, as a deluxe alternative to services like We Work. The company was founded by Joshua Abram and James O'Reilly in New York in 2013 and opened a second location in Los Angeles in 2015. There is a third location planned for London. They have four membership levels with varying access to facilities and services, ranging from $150 to $3,500 per month.
The company does not give staff names or positions on on their website, however, their LinkedIn profile describes them as having between 11 and 50 employees. (A search of employees on LinkedIn turned up 92 names, but this includes both current and previous names, as well as some members.)
Positions at Neuehouse include:
Executive Director of Events - Shane Aaron Bunda
Cultural Editor
LOCATION-SPECIFIC POSITIONS
Director of Cultural Programming - Meredith Rogers (Los Angeles)
Cultural Programming Coordinator - Brian Wanee (Los Angeles)
Assistant Director of Event Operations
Event Captain
Front of House Manager
SUMMARY
In the private club sphere, Soho Club remains the major player, with 18 locations worldwide. The Battery and CORE: Club each have a single location and Neuehouse has two with plans for more.
Each company's structure involves a central core of directors, and, in the case of Soho, regional or national directors. Individual properties are generally split into the categories of event management, cultural programming, membership and banquet/ dining/ beverage management. In each department, there are usually managers and coordinators, as well as general staff such as servers, concierges, etc. Each of these categories is ultimately run by a corporate-level director, although how far removed that person is varies greatly according to the size of the business.
I hope that this information meets your needs. Thanks again for using Wonder and we hope you'll contact us again for future research needs.