Soho House: Waiting list for Kendall Jenner favourite reaches record high ahead of Manchester, Sao Paolo and US openings

Soho House, the private members club, saw membership rise 10 per cent to 261,571 in the fourth quarter ahead of openings in Manchester, Sao Paolo and the US.

The growth helped boost revenue to 263.1m, up 3.1 per cent. The gains were primarily driven by a 20 per cent rise in membership revenue to 100.2m, accounting for 38 per cent of the total.

New York-listed Soho House’s exclusive clubs are the haunt of many famous celebrities, including Kate Moss, Kendall Jenner, Ellie Goulding and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

In London, the swanky White City House helped draw in over 4,000 new sign-ups during the quarter, up 17.4 per cent year-on-year.

The group’s waitlist remains at record levels, with around 102,000 applicants.

“Our first quarter results are testament to the strong appeal of Soho House globally, with Soho House membership growing 17 per cent year-on-year and our waitlist surpassing the 100,000 mark for the first time,” said Andrew Carnie, chief executive.

He added there had been “steady improvement” in underlying trends since the start of the year. “This, coupled with continued strong execution, gives us confidence to raise the midpoint of our adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) guidance.”

“I’d like to thank our teams for their passion and hard work, and members around the world for their continued loyalty.”

Robyn Duffy, consumer markets senior analyst at RSM UK, said: “Soho House Group’s latest results signal the strength of its burgeoning global brand with strong membership growth year-on-year and membership sales accounting for a large proportion of total revenues.  

“Upcoming strategic openings in Manchester, Sao Paulo and North America will stand the brand in good stead for the rest of 2024 and into 2025. Openings in North America in particular should aid the business in its continued quest for profitability, with America seeing robust consumer spending despite the uncertain economic climate.

“The North American elite are a consumer pool prime for growth with an upper-middle class in search of tailored and exclusive experiences.”

It hasn’t all been plain sailing, though. The update comes just months after short seller Glasshouse Research launched a critical report that claimed the firm was headed the same way as Wework, which filed for bankruptcy in November.

Soho House has firmly rejected the allegations.

Shares were up 1.58 per cent shortly after the announcement but are down over 20 per cent this year to date.