Snow cats, sunrises — and other gems from Edinburgh's photo exhibition
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Daily Mail
25 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
How Soho House became the chicest venue for high society hedonism! Private club was Kate Moss' party spot of choice, hosted Harry and Meghan's first date and even turned away Kim Kardashian
It began as a networking destination for 'creatives', but Soho House quickly became a favorite hangout for celebrities such as Liam Gallagher and model Kate Moss to let down their hair and enjoy a lavish night out on the town. Opened in 1995 in London by Nick Jones, who is married to TV and radio presenter Kirsty Young, the private members' club worked on attracting creative clientele instead of the bankers and financiers that dominated other social clubs. It appeared to be a huge success, and Jones's brand of louche luxury combined with great service has seen famous faces such as Tom Cruise, Taylor Swift and Dua Lipa, rush to be a part of the ever-expanding club. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle even had their first date at a Soho House in London in July 2016, while before her wedding in 2018, the Duchess of Sussex was said to have enjoyed a stay at Soho's Cotswolds Farmhouse, dubbed the 'Butlins for toffs'. A membership at the club, priced at around £1,500 for global access, is thought to be a must-have for many of the world's elite - yet the chain is known to 'highly selective' about who it accepts as members. For instance, Kim Kardashian was famously thought to have been denied membership at the brand's West Hollywood venue (after they enforced a 'creativity over net worth' policy). It's unknown whether the reality TV star has since been made a member. Now with locations in New York, Miami, Austin, Chicago as well as Bangkok, Hong Kong, Barcelona and Paris, the brand shows no signs of slowing down. Further proof that the club's glory days are far from behind them is the announcement that the company is going private again in a $2.7billion (£2billion) deal led by New York-based MCR Hotels. A raft of existing shareholders, including Ron Burkle, Ivy Collection boss Richard Caring and founder Nick Jones, will retain their stakes in the company. A-list actor-turned-tech investor Ashton Kutcher will also invest in Soho House as part of the deal and will join the firm's board of directors. Founded by Nick Jones, the entrepreneur husband of Desert Island Discs presenter Kirsty Young, Soho House has for two decades been held up as the epitome of louche British cool. Formed in 1995 on London's Greek Street, the club started as a single space for local artists and actors to gather above Jones's restaurant Cafe Boheme. It has since turned into a sprawling global empire whose fans include socialites and celebrities from George and Amal Clooney to Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie. 'We wanted it to be creative and like-minded, and, for people who were at ease with themselves,' Jones said in a 2017 interview. It quickly expanded to clubs elsewhere in London, and opened its first US club in New York in 2003. In 2008, Jones sold an 80 per cent stake in the club to British businessman Richard Caring for $144 million. Four years later in 2012, US billionaire Ron Burkle bought 50 per cent of the company from Caring and Jones. Since then, the company has ramped up its expansion plans, and began offering workspaces and health products under its lifestyle brand Cowshed. In 2010, it opened its first Los Angeles club, and immediately became a celebrity spotters paradise. The Hollywood Reporter called it 'the most important club in Hollywood - a high-wattage magnet for A-listers and dealmakers', in 2015. The club forbids the taking of photos of VIP celebrity guests with phone cameras. One couple who surreptitiously tried to get guests David and Victoria Beckham into the background of their selfie had their memberships revoked. Now boasting 46 Soho Houses, the clubs often include communal areas, restaurants and cafes with some boasting cinemas and swimming pools. Movie stars including Leonardo DiCaprio and Margot Robbie have been spotted at the venues, while Kate Moss is reportedly a member. One of the New York locations was once featured in an episode of Sex and the City, when Samantha Jones, unable to get off the waiting list, posed as a member to gain pool access for her and her friends. Members are forbidden from identifying fellow members on social media. (They're not even allowed to describe Soho House events on social media.) Soho House previously paused new memberships during the coronavirus pandemic to allow people to socially distance at its clubs. There was also an effort to cull some members to capture its founding spirit and attract more creatives. The company announced it was purging 1,000 members in 2010 from its New York house with Jones saying he was 'trying to get the club back to its creative roots.' 'When I went there, it didn't have the right feel anymore. It has always been a creative, friendly place with a relaxed feel,' he said. 'If there are too many corporate types around then that atmosphere doesn't occur.' The application process to become a member is comprehensive, requiring prospective members to provide a biography, explain what they can contribute and whether they already know existing members. The club has a membership committee of those who already have access which make the call on who may join. Membership at the venues is famously exclusive and is now seen as a coveted status symbol for jet-setting international 'creatives'. The Soho House website explains: 'Unlike other members' clubs, which often focus on wealth and status, we aim to assemble communities of members that have something in common: namely, a creative soul.' Founder Jones stepped down from the day-to-day running of the company in 2022 as he recovered from prostate cancer. Staying on in a founder role, he said at the time he had been 'spending a lot more time in our houses' as he has the 'space to focus more attention on the clubs themselves.' Jones said: 'Over the last 27 years I have run Soho House and more recently MCG by always putting members at the heart of everything we do. I am so proud of what we have achieved and grateful to all the teams who have helped us get to where we are today. 'I am going back to doing what I did for many, years, which is the reason I went into business, giving people a good time, getting people to meet new people and creating lovely spaces.' Jones grew up in Cobham, Surrey, and went to Shiplake College, a boarding school in Oxfordshire. When he left school at 17 he decided on a career in catering as he was 'obsessed with food'. He is married to Kirsty Young, the former presenter of Desert Island Discs who was forced to step down for health reasons. Young has spoken about the 'severe, relentless' pain that forced her off the air waves having been struck by a combination of rheumatoid arthritis and chronic pain disorder fibromyalgia. She delighted fans with a return to screens during the late Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Yesterday, it was announced that Soho House has been sold for £2 billion in a deal backed by a Hollywood A-lister. The celebrity hotspot is being taken over by a group of investors, including Ashton Kutcher, in a deal worth around $2.7 billion (£2 billion). The hospitality group, which is based in London but listed on the New York Stock Exchange, confirmed shareholders in Soho House & Co will receive $9 (£6.64) per share in the business. New York-based hotel giant MCR Hotels is leading the consortium, also including private equity firm Apollo, which struck the deal to take the company private. It will pay £2 billion to snap up the business, including its $700m (£5.1m) debts. A raft of existing shareholders, including Ron Burkle, Ivy Collection boss Richard Caring and founder Nick Jones, will retain their stakes in the company. A-list actor-turned-tech investor Mr Kutcher will also invest in Soho House as part of the deal and will join the firm's board of directors. MCR boss Tyler Morse will also join the board as vice chairman following the takeover. The business currently runs 46 Soho House sites, eight Soho Works and Scorpios Beach Clubs in Mykonos and Bodrum. It also owns the Ned and numerous other hospitality businesses. Andrew Carnie, chief executive of Soho House & Co, said: 'This transaction reflects the strong confidence our existing and incoming shareholders have in the future of Soho House & Co, and the transformation we've led since becoming a public company. 'Since our IPO (initial public offering) in 2021, we've focused on building a stronger, more resilient business. 'I'm incredibly proud of what our teams have accomplished and am excited about our future, as we continue to be guided by our members and grounded in the spirit that makes Soho House so special.' Mr Morse said: 'All of us at MCR are excited to be part of the Soho House journey, helping to create more experiences, interactions and memories alongside friends and members. 'We have long admired Soho House for bringing together cultures from around the world into a global network of 46 houses, and we look forward to the continued growth of that fabric, starting with four new houses opening soon.'
The Independent
27 minutes ago
- The Independent
Woman, 88, fears her clifftop home will be lost to the sea if nothing is done
A pensioner fears the clifftop home where she has lived for 25 years could be lost to the sea due to coastal erosion and said she would be heartbroken if that happened. Jean Flick, 88, remarried in 1999 after the death of her first husband from cancer and later bought the seaside property in Thorpeness, Suffolk, with her second husband for a fresh start. She said they were 'very happy' in their coastal home before her second husband also died of cancer. Ms Flick said coastal erosion has worsened in recent years, with a section of her garden wall dropping to the beach below earlier this year. Another home in her street was demolished in 2022, and Ms Flick fears she could lose her home too. She and her daughter Frances Paul, who lives nearby, are trying to secure planning permission for rock-filled cages called gabions to be placed at the foot of the cliffs to slow the erosion. This would be a self-funded project, after previous defences were washed away. Ms Flick said she has been told that if the cliff edge gets to within five metres of the house, the property will have to be demolished. 'If nothing is done, if it comes within five metres of the house it will be pulled down,' she said. 'No compensation, we have to pay for it to be pulled down and my heart will just break because it's my home. 'I know a lot of people have this problem (on) the coast and I sympathise with them because until it happens to you you don't realise the emotion that goes into the fact you're going to lose your home. 'Without any compensation, where do you buy a house with nothing? 'Your home is gone and it's just devastating really.' The house was built in 1928 and had five bedrooms, now four after one was turned into a sitting room for the sea view. 'I just absolutely love it,' said Ms Flick, who is from a farming family. 'It's my home, I know the people, it's a village, we have lots of things going on in the village.' The property is around two miles south of Sizewell, where a new nuclear power station is being built. Ms Flick said that Storm Babet in 2023 'really ravaged' the cliffs. 'It really came with full force and I think that weakened the whole system along because it is sandy and there's no way of making sand stay still,' she said. 'Sand erodes.' The policy in the Shoreline Management Plan – developed by agencies including the Environment Agency and the local authority – for the stretch of coast is of managed realignment. This means measures might be allowed that slow – but do not stop – the erosion. 'We're working with the council and all the other people who are involved in it but it's a job getting them all to meet together and agree together,' said Ms Flick. 'We would have liked to have carried on with rocks as our next door neighbour has but we're not allowed that.' She said it was a 'case now of getting paperwork signed which seems to be taking ages' before they could get permission for gabion defences. 'It's very urgent because most days you see another little bit gone,' Ms Flick said. 'It's the erosion coming underneath that brings the top down. 'My wall that was there is now on the beach.' She continued: 'You just don't know. 'When I draw the curtains in the morning it can be there, when I draw them the next morning another piece can be gone.' Her daughter Ms Paul, a retired retail worker, said: 'Even the low tides now are quite high.' She said that as they would need to fund defences themselves, if permission were granted it would then be 'a question of what's it going to cost, is it possible'. An East Suffolk Council spokesperson said: 'Our key priority is to keep people safe while managing a rapidly eroding coastline at Thorpeness. 'We are supporting affected residents to explore potential temporary, short-term interventions that could be applied within an achievable timescale while plans are explored for any possible longer-term solutions. 'We have been working closely with the community for a number of years and due to recent accelerated rates of erosion the options available are now quite limited.' Defences must accord with the Shoreline Management Plan policy of managed realignment and would only be permitted to slow erosion, the spokesperson said. 'Therefore, it is important to consider alternatives to hard defences, to adapt and become more resilient to the risks of climate change and sea level rise.' The village of Thorpeness was developed as a fantasy holiday resort by a wealthy friend of Peter Pan author JM Barrie. Scottish playwright and barrister Glencairn Stuart Ogilvie had inherited an estate there in 1908, and Thorpeness was officially opened in 1913. Thorpeness, with its large artificial boating lake and Peter Pan-inspired islands, is the earlier of two complete planned resort villages in Britain built before the advent of holiday camps such as Butlin's. The other is Portmeirion in North Wales, designed by Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1975.
Daily Mail
28 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Coronation Street fans left open-mouthed by 'gross' sex scene as two iconic stars strip completely naked and romp on kitchen table - before being caught by horrified relative
Coronation Street fans were left open-mouthed by a sex scene which saw Steve and Cassie get down and dirty on a kitchen table. The eye-popping romp in the Dobbs household was witnessed by none other than Tyrone, who accidentally walked in on the tryst. Horrified at what he is witnessing, he blurts out: 'What are you playing at? There are rooms upstairs!' An embarrassed Steve then quickly covered his manhood with a teddy bear. He then tried - and failed - to change the subject by telling Tyrone he has got him some beer. The awkward encounter comes after Steve and Cassie's relationship has heated up in recent months. Corrie fans were quick to take to social media to comment on the X-rated scene, with many expressing their disgust. They wrote: 'Did not want to see that with Steve & Cassie #Corrie'; 'Cassie and Steve being naked was not something I wanted to see'; 'Oh Jesus Steve and Cassie my tea's just come back up thanks to you!'; 'Steve and Cassie are getting kind of gross now. They should book a room at Debbie's Hotel if they want to get busy.' Another simply joked about Steve's attempt to cover up: 'That poor teddy bear.' But not everyone who witnessed the sex scene was disgusted and others simply found it hilarious, writing: 'Great to see comedy in Corrie again.'; 'These two are so funny.' Corrie fans were quick to take to social media to comment on the X-rated scene, with many expressing their disgust The romp comes after it was revealed earlier this year that the long-running soap is pulling in record viewers in 2025. Alongside more hard-hitting (and in this case eye-popping) storylines, Corrie is now available to view on ITVX from 7am on the day of broadcast. This meant that soap fans could either choose to tune in early or watch their favourite soaps at a time that better suits them. The decision to make the change came after BBC soap EastEnders made a similar switch to iPlayer a few years ago. Following the change, which was also applied to Emmerdale, both shows have enjoyed a record 124 million streams in 2025's first quarter.
