Reports this week that Soho House is to “actively discourage” people aged over 27 from applying for membership will do little for the private club's reputation amongst Chiswickians.

The club, whose clientele includes forty something stars such as Hugh Grant and Madonna, fears that its membership is becoming too middle aged and that it is losing its edge.  Therefore, in a bid to attract a younger crowd, Soho House have introduced a half-price membership scheme for younger people.

The club's new policy will not only upset the majority of Chiswick's celebrity and media glitterati, it will also effectively prevent the diminutive duo Ant and Dec from joining their own club as the tv twosome both turned 30 last year!

The vetting committee for the original Soho House in Greek Street is being asked to select younger members from their 3 year waiting list who will be more in keeping with the image the club is seeking to cultivate. More than 70% of its existing members, who currently pay £500 a year, have a direct link with the film industry. However, the huge growth in the number of rival private member's clubs means that competition for the “right kind of member” is becoming increasingly fierce. 

Soho House owner Nick Jones (aged 42 and married to 37 year old Channel Five newsreader Kirsty Young), has insisted that there would not be an automatic ban on members born before 1979, but he admitted that the club was “actively discouraging” older members.  “A good club has to evolve with the passing of time.... Of course a lot of the original membership are now slightly older, and we want to ensure we are getting new blood in. We are not talking about an absolute ban. Rather we are actively discouraging people who are over 27 from joining." he said.

Soho House's Chiswick club (yet to be officially named), is expected to have a membership of around 1,500.

ChiswickW4.com conducted an extensive search for a Chiswick resident under the age of 27 who could not only afford to become a member of the new club when it opens this June, but also possessed the right credentials.  When we have located that person, we will let you all know what they said!

February 25, 2006