#TimesUp As Women-Only Members Club Opens In Bloomsbury
James Brown memorably claimed that it’s a man’s world, but times have changed since 1966. Equality is a word on everybody’s lips these days, but that doesn’t mean that women don’t deserve something for ourselves from time to time.
This is clearly the thinking behind the launch of The AllBright. A new private club exclusively for female members located in Central London’s Rathbone Place. As the face of the building announces, “a woman must have money and a room of her own” (© Virginia Woolf).
If you have the former, The AllBright will provide the latter! The cost implications of membership upon launch are £750 per year (in addition to a joining fee of £300), or £2,000 for three years. Discounts are available for members under the age of 27.
I was lucky enough to be invited to the launch party during the week, which was a glorious occasion, with a distinct buzz in the air in this powerful environment. The club was filled with influential women in today’s commercial world, including the editor of Stylist magazine, while Miss Moneypenny herself, actress Naomie Harris, was the guest of honour. Dressed in an ice-cream cool pastel pink trouser suit, Ms. Harris was every inch the ambassador of female empowerment and entrepreneurship. This is the mantra of the AllBright, which promises to provide a haven, a social point for exchanging powerful ideas and meeting like-minded working women. You can call it ‘networking’ – but it’s much more than that…
Once inside the converted five-story townhouse, it’s impossible not to be impressed by The AllBright Club. The decor is undeniably modern, but blessed with an appealing and quirky aesthetic that stands out from similar establishments. The club is the brainchild of Debbie Wosskow, OBE (founder of home exchange holiday website Love Home Swap) and Anna Jones (former CEO of publishing empire Hearst UK), who acknowledged the need for a safe space for successful women in the capital.
Offering a location where such people can relax, exchange experiences and offer encouragement to each other, The AllBright is an antidote to the private male-only clubs that have attracted so much negative attention in recent times. After all, it’s hugely unlikely that the kind of boorish behaviour that defined The President’s Club will be repeated between these walls.
In the era of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, and with the Harvey Weinstein scandal still fresh in the minds of many, The AllBright is arguably more pivotal than ever before. Find out for yourself by signing up for membership and enjoying everything the establishment has to offer.
