It has been confirmed that Soho House owner Nick Jones has bought Fouberts and will be launching a new private members' club, hotel, spa and brasserie. Soho House's latest acquisition includes all four of the Fouberts buildings which take in the traditional Italian ice-cream parlour, restaurant and hotel.

Head of operations at Soho House UK, Charlie Luxton, confirmed the group had bought the site but declined to reveal its cost.

Luxton said the hotel would incorporate aspects of the group's Somerset country house hotel, Babington House, including a Cowshed-branded spa, and interiors will be designed by Ilse Crawford. There are also plans for a private members' club and brasserie.

"We're only just in the early stages of development," Luxton told Caterer Magazine, "We're still deciding exactly what to do with it."

A Soho House spokeswoman confirmed that local TV comedy duo Ant and Dec were shareholders in the Soho House group. chiswickw4.com reported earlier this year that the pair had bid £8m for the site.

Soho House now owns two Soho House private members' clubs, in London and in New York, Babington House hotel in Somerset, the Electric Brasserie in Notting Hill, the Balham Kitchen and Bar in south London and Cecconi's in Piccadilly. The group is understood to be on the lookout for further sites in the UK and abroad.

The Chiswick venture is expected to be open in autumn 2006.

August 25, 2005