The Diary of a CEOSoho House Founder: How I Built The World’s Most Exclusive Club: Nick Jones | E163
CHAPTERS
- 0:00 – 10:20
Dyslexic Childhood, Low Expectations, and Early Love of Hospitality
Jones describes growing up in a comfortable middle-class family but feeling overshadowed by higher-achieving siblings. Struggling badly at school due to undiagnosed dyslexia, he expected few conventional options yet became fascinated by food, supermarkets, and his parents’ occasional dinner parties. Those experiences planted the seed that creating enjoyable environments for others might be his path.
- •Middle-child in a “nice middle class” family; brothers excelled at school and sport while he did not.
- •Severely dyslexic: poor spelling, handwriting, and exams; initially just seen as “thick.”
- •Mother pushed for testing; dyslexia diagnosed at 12, unusually early for that era.
- •Extra exam time didn’t help because his struggle was content, not speed.
- •Began enjoying doing the supermarket shop and helping prepare dinner parties, intrigued by how to make guests have fun.
- •Early bar work at a local sports club confirmed he enjoyed interacting with people and watching them have a good time.
- 10:20 – 23:40
Choosing Hospitality Over the Family Business and Finding Confidence in Kitchens
With poor grades and few O-levels, university was off the table and hospitality looked like one of the only viable careers. Ignoring his father’s insurance business, Jones joined Trusthouse Forte as a management trainee, endured a brutal first year in hotel kitchens, and slowly shed his shyness by learning to work with people from very different backgrounds.
- •Careers master bluntly told him “it’s catering, Nick,” reinforcing the limited options he perceived.
- •Rejected from the Savoy management course after freezing in the interview due to shyness.
- •Accepted onto a five-year Trusthouse Forte program; first year in St George’s Hotel kitchen.
- •On day one, the head chef mocked him, hurled a sack of potatoes at him, and gave him a crude nickname.
- •Cut his finger peeling potatoes—had never really used a knife; literally learned on the job.
- •Despite harsh conditions, long hours, and culture clash with his “posh accent,” he relished the buzz and camaraderie.
- •Views that immersion as invaluable training in getting on with all kinds of people and becoming part of a team.
- 23:40 – 28:30
Dyslexia as Gift and the Power of Simplicity
Jones explains why he now sees dyslexia as an advantage, not a handicap. It forces him to simplify, condense, and strip away complexity across every area of the business, a discipline he believes the modern, over-complicated world desperately needs and that helps everyone better understand and execute.
- •Refuses to romanticize dyslexia as a superpower but calls it a “huge opportunity.”
- •Insists on single-page over multi-page documents; complex decks and jargon “panic and confuse” him.
- •He spends significant time editing and simplifying designs, recipes, and tech projects.
- •Believes simplification correlates with genuine understanding and leads to clearer staff and member experiences.
- •Encourages people newly diagnosed with dyslexia not to feel ashamed but to recognize the alternative perspective it grants.
- 28:30 – 39:40
Over The Top: A Painful First Restaurant and Crucial Lessons
By his early 20s, after stints across hotel departments and casual restaurants, Jones opened his first own place, Over The Top, funded partly by his father, friends, and a bank. The concept and execution were poor, but he kept it afloat, learned how unforgiving customers are, and discovered that product quality beats marketing every time.
- •Left a comfortable trajectory at Trusthouse Forte (including marketing roles) to pursue his own restaurant.
- •Opened Over The Top in 1988 at around 22–23 years old; admits he was too young and inexperienced.
- •Concept: choose a protein and “10 sauces over the top” – which he now calls terrible.
- •Design, food, and overall experience were bad; only loyal friends kept coming.
- •Business never technically went bust but survived on minimal cash and constant scrimping.
- •Learned to manage weekly payroll, handle zero-cash weeks, and try scrappy initiatives like a delivery service (which failed).
- •Most important lesson: you cannot out-market a weak offering—customers “know what good is” and sense mediocrity immediately.
- 39:40 – 48:40
Café Boheme: Redeeming Failure and Building a Neighborhood Hit
Using everything he learned from Over The Top’s mediocrity, Jones opened Café Boheme in 1992. With good, simple food, long hours, jazz, and a flexible approach to how and when people could use the space, it became a lively Soho staple and gave him both credibility and cashflow to contemplate something bigger.
- •Café Boheme launched using the same corporate shell as Over The Top, but with a totally different philosophy.
- •Open from 8am to 3am with the kitchen always open—unusual in London at the time.
- •Customers could just have coffee, drinks, or a full meal; afternoon jazz built atmosphere and regulars.
- •Jones focused on making the food “edible and nice,” service warm, and environment fun.
- •Café Boheme’s success was the turning point that erased the stain of Over The Top.
- •It reaffirmed his conviction that customer-centric, flexible hospitality could disrupt old rigid rules (like kitchens closing mid-afternoon).
- 48:40 – 56:10
Accidentally Inventing Soho House: Greek Street and Member-Led Growth
When the offices above Café Boheme unexpectedly became available, Jones initially had no plan for them. A walk-through made him see the potential for a “home away from home” private club, despite having no experience in such places. With landlord-financed fit-out rolled into rent, he opened the first Soho House and then folded it back into his original company so early investors could share in success.
- •Landlord offered the floors above Café Boheme; no initial intention to create a private members’ club.
- •Jones always goes to “have a look” when opportunities arise; walking the space sparked the idea.
- •Named it simply “Soho House” (a house in Soho); logo and structure also simple—three buildings, three floors.
- •Family and original investors refused to fund another venture; landlord Paul Raymond financed the fit-out and recovered it via higher rent.
- •Initially Jones owned 100% of Soho House but later merged it with Café Boheme/Over The Top entity to fairly include original backers.
- •Early team members from 1995 (servers, bartenders) now hold senior roles in the global organization, reflecting long-term people development.
- •From the start, he leaned on member committees and their networks to build the first 500 members.
- 56:10 – 1:04:50
Members as Compass: Cannes Pop-Ups, Babington House, and Crowdfunding
Jones explains how meticulously listening to members guided some of Soho House’s signature moves. Discovering his London club went quiet during Cannes led to an early “pop-up” on a boat at the film festival; repeated nudges to open in the country led to Babington House, which he bought with minimal capital and funded largely via small investments from members.
- •When Soho House suddenly went quiet in May, a member explained everyone was at Cannes Film Festival.
- •Rather than accept seasonality, Jones rented a boat in Cannes harbour and created a temporary club—pre-dating the modern pop-up trend.
- •Successive member requests for a countryside house made him seek hotel properties; he fell in love with Babington House.
- •Purchase price around £1–1.5 million; he had only enough for a deposit.
- •Vendor wanted to stay through summer and delay completion 9 months—buying him time to secure planning and raise funds.
- •He raised capital from members, many contributing around £5,000 each; everyone ultimately got their money back “plus, plus.”
- •He was even briefly gazumped but increased his offer, despite not yet having the funds, because he believed so strongly in the project.
- 1:04:50 – 1:17:10
Crossing the Atlantic: 9/11, Meatpacking District, and Bowie’s Backing
Encouraged by members, Jones pushed into New York, navigating hostile timing and huge financial and emotional risk. He arrived just before 9/11, secured local approvals days after the attacks, then painstakingly raised money and opened in the raw Meatpacking District—culminating in a legendary hard-hat dinner where David Bowie invested.
- •Members urged him to open in New York; initial attempts to find premises in SoHo failed due to permitting and property challenges.
- •Eventually secured a rough electrical warehouse in the then-gritty Meatpacking District.
- •Banks in the UK were unwilling to lend for a US project; he had to raise funds locally and among existing members.
- •Arrived in New York just before 9/11; watched smoke from the first impact and saw the second plane hit from the street.
- •Despite the tragedy, the community board licensing meeting went ahead; he acknowledged its strangeness but secured approval.
- •Organized countless tours of the site to potential backers; staged a “grit and glamour” hard-hat dinner amid the construction, cooking on a single burner.
- •David Bowie attended, liked the concept, and asked to buy or invest; he became one of the project’s investors.
- •Opening was chaotic: incomplete roof, no hot water so guests used a nearby gym, staff hauling sheetrock to finish rooms just in time.
- 1:17:10 – 1:28:20
Ambition, Proving Yourself, and the Cost to Life Balance
When asked why he kept pushing from a solid London base into risky international expansion, Jones acknowledges a deep internal drive, partly linked to proving himself after childhood comparisons with high-achieving brothers. He candidly admits he never fully mastered work–life balance, often exhausted and over-traveling until his family and the pandemic forced a reset.
- •Admits there was an underlying desire to prove himself—to his family and perhaps to himself.
- •Self-identifies as fundamentally positive, always seeing the glass “half full.”
- •Hospitality was a mission: to show it could be done differently and better for the customer.
- •Describes fusing work and family life: kids in pushchairs on Saturday rounds; later working to separate them more cleanly.
- •Recognizes he was “always knackered,” internalizing pressure and neglecting friends and downtime.
- •Kirsty, his wife, repeatedly questioned the need for “another house” and constant flying, asking what he was trying to prove.
- •Pandemic showed him he could rely more on senior leaders and use time more intelligently without constant physical presence.
- •In retrospect, he wishes he’d got the life–family–work balance better earlier, a common struggle among entrepreneurs.
- 1:28:20 – 1:32:40
Leadership Philosophy: Delegation, Team Empowerment, and Avoiding Founder Bottlenecks
Reflecting on his leadership, Jones says his obsessions have always been members and staff. If he could advise his younger self, he would urge earlier and deeper delegation, recognizing that operations can thrive—and sometimes do better—when the founder steps back and trusts the team.
- •Two lifelong obsessions: keeping members happy and looking after the people who work for Soho House.
- •Would tell young Nick: let your team take more responsibility; don’t try to do everything yourself.
- •Views proper delegation as a sign that you’ve proved the concept works globally.
- •Realized that constant presence could intimidate staff and produce curated, non-representative performances.
- •Found that houses often operated more smoothly without him physically there, once capable leaders had autonomy.
- 1:32:40 – 1:37:40
Brand Without Branding: Aspirational Image as Byproduct of Member Focus
Bartlett presses Jones on whether he intentionally built an aspirational brand. Jones denies any deliberate brand-building agenda, arguing that Soho House’s desirability arose organically from relentless member focus, continual improvement, and a refusal to cookie-cut houses. Members themselves, he says, created the brand aura.
- •Jones claims he’s never sat down to design an “aspirational brand” in a marketing sense.
- •He is pleased if Soho House is perceived that way, but attributes it directly to members’ enthusiasm and word-of-mouth.
- •Each new house starts with a blank sheet of paper; they aim to make it better than the last, not replicate.
- •Continuous iteration in design, operations, and efficiency to improve member experience is the central brand engine.
- •Strong, long-tenured membership teams and committees help preserve culture while adapting locally.
- 1:37:40 – 1:47:00
What Hospitality Really Sells: Human Connection, Community, and Flourishing
Jones lays out his philosophy that hospitality at its best sells human connection and environments where people can flourish. He credits hospitality with teaching vital life skills, advocates for it as a form of national service, and describes Soho House as a curated community that fosters collaboration, mentoring, and cross-generational support.
- •Believes everyone should do a year in hospitality for what it teaches about teamwork and people.
- •Practical skills—making beds, clearing tables, making cocktails, staying organized—combine with social skills and confidence.
- •Defines Soho House’s purpose as helping members flourish socially and professionally, not just serving food or rooms.
- •Houses are designed so creatives and “creative souls” can bump into one another and form relationships and ventures.
- •Mentoring schemes are a passion: connecting successful members with emerging talent, especially from less privileged backgrounds.
- •Membership spans from original founders of 27–28 years to a large under-27 cohort; he values this mix.
- •Rejects the idea that creativity belongs to any class; sees it as widely distributed and something Soho House can help unlock.
- 1:47:00
Unassuming Founder, Success, and the Future as a Public Company
In a reflective close, Jones addresses his own shyness and reluctance to self-promote, instead pointing to joy in his work, deep care for members and staff, and his family as true measures of success. Professionally, he acknowledges Soho House has “done all right,” and outlines ambitions to perform strongly as a public, subscription-based company while expanding globally and maintaining balance.
- •Bartlett notes Jones’ unassuming, low-ego style; Jones says he simply loves what he does and cares deeply.
- •He insists Soho House was never a pure “money play” but an attempt to change hospitality for the better.
- •For him, success is judged more by being a good father than by business metrics.
- •He cautiously accepts that by conventional measures, he is professionally successful because what he built works.
- •Post-IPO, he’s learning to engage with analysts and public markets; believes it can make the company sharper.
- •Highlights recurring membership revenue and strong occupancy without reliance on booking engines as strengths.
- •Sees significant white space: Africa, much of Asia, and Latin America (with Mexico coming) still largely untapped.
- •If he could change one thing, it would be getting life–family–work balance right earlier, rather than running at 100 mph.
