Despite some UHNW individuals leaving London, the city’s private members’ clubs have remained resilient throughout 2025. Not only are many of the most historic and established clubs getting revamps, but several new venues are set to open. Selfridges is set to launch 40 Duke in 2026, featuring a dining room, bar, lounge and terrace. Six Senses will also trial a members’ club concept, Six Senses Place, while the National Gallery has opened Supporters’ House for its members.
According to industry reports, more clubs have opened in the past four years than in the three decades following the Groucho Club’s 1985 launch, with even more set to join them soon – showing that the rich and famous are still very much eager to socialise and spend in London’s exclusive club scene.
Born from the 17th-century coffee houses, London’s private members’ clubs have been a mainstay of the city’s social scene for hundreds of years. Today, these enclaves of exclusivity are where the great and the good gather to dine, drink, socialise and work – in exchange for often ostentatiously expensive membership fees.
Two larger-than-life figures loom over the London private members’ clubs scene: Robin Birley and Richard Caring. Pitted against each other in the press, these two power-players lay claim to the biggest names in the business.
Related
What sets London’s best private members’ clubs apart? Discretion, of course, is key for many. Maison Estelle excels in this field, keeping all details of its members-only offering under wraps. Others promise opportunities to network (Ten Trinity Square) or slip into headline-making after-parties (The Twenty-Two).
The chance to rub shoulders with the upper echelons is undoubtedly a draw: just ask anyone who has dined alongside the royals at Oswald’s. Most famous among them is Annabel’s, founded by Birley’s father Mark and now owned by Caring, but there is plenty of competition for the crown.
Thinking about signing up? Spear’s shares a list of London’s best private members’ clubs below.
Content from our partners
Click the links below to jump to a section of this article:
- Methodology
- The best private members’ clubs: some names to know
- The best private members’ clubs: the complete list
- Contact us
Methodology
Each year, the Spear’s Research Unit reassesses and refreshes its rankings of the leading providers in each sector by gathering data from and about the advisers and firms themselves, assessing submission forms, collating nominations, carrying out peer reviews, reviewing data from third-party sources, gathering references and recommendations, canvassing experts and conducting hundreds of interviews.
Advisers are evaluated using a proprietary scoring system that assigns different weightings to certain attributes. These scores feed directly into each new set of rankings in the Spear’s Indices. Each of these indices are published first online (according to the research calendar) and then in print. Print publication takes the form of the annual Spear’s 500 directory, which includes the top advisers in every index.
[See also: A guide to The Spear’s 500: Everything you need to know]
Each featured adviser is profiled on spears500.com. The site allows users to search the Spear’s database of more than 4,000 entities to find one (or more) to meet their specific requirements by filtering for specific attributes such as an adviser’s location, their specialist expertise and information about their client base.
The best private members’ clubs in London: some names to know
5 Hertford Street
- Where: 2-5 Hertford St, London W1J 7RB
- Membership fee: Becoming a member of 5 Hertford Street isn’t easy, but if you do get in, prices start at £1,800 a year.
When Robin Birley returned to clubland in 2012, expectations – and intrigue – were high, including at Spear’s. As the second son of the legendary Mark Birley, the Old Etonian may not have had the chance to run his father’s clubs (which were sold to Richard Caring in 2007), but it soon became clear he’d been paying attention. His Mayfair venture, 5 Hertford Street, has been a sensation.
More than a hangout for celebrities, socialites and royals, the club has followed in the footsteps of Mark Birley’s celebrated Annabel’s in becoming a place where meetings of real consequence are facilitated and conducted.
Read 5 Hertford Street’s full profile on Spears500.com
Annabel’s
- Where: 46 Berkeley Square, London W1J 5AT
- Membership fee: A full annual option costs £3,750 alongside a £1,850 joining fee. An under-35s annual membership comes at a reduced rate of £2,250, plus a £600 joining fee.
The grande dame of private members’ clubs, Annabel’s has seen it all: from then-Prince Charles and Princess Diana to Mick Jagger and Kate Moss.
Under Richard Caring’s ownership, Annabel’s now resides at 46 Berkeley Square, just two doors down from the original site, which opened in 1963. While famous for its nightclub – which is said to be the only one to have been visited by the Queen – these days the establishment offers far more than drinks and dancing.
With restaurants, bars, a garden terrace, private dining rooms and a maximalist approach to decor including sinks carved in the shape of a stone crocodile and a cloakroom into which coats disappear like a magic trick, there’s little more you could ask for.
Read Annabel’s full profile on Spears500.com
Ten Trinity Square
- Where: 10 Trinity Square, City of London, London EC3N 4AJ
- Membership fee: Around £3,000 per year.
Set within the former headquarters of the Port of London Authority, Ten Trinity Square styles itself as a unique partnership between the investment group Reignwood, vineyard Château Latour and the Four Seasons hotel group.
The club, occupying a quiet, out-of-the-way section of the building, features lavish yet discreet rooms, letting members escape the demands of City life while enjoying high-end cultural and gourmet experiences.
Read Ten Trinity Square’s full profile on Spears500.com
The Arts Club
- Where: 40 Dover St, London W1S 4NP
- Membership fees: £3,200 per annum, with a £1600 joining fee. Young person memberships open to applicants under 33 years of age and entitled to full access and privileges of the club at a rate of £1500, with a £500 joining fee.
No other club can boast such illustrious founding members as The Arts Club on Dover Street. Charles Dickens, Anthony Trollope and Lord Leighton were among those who founded the club in 1863, and other members have included Auguste Rodin, James Whistler and Franz Liszt.
These days the club continues to attract creatives and thought leaders in their droves. Gwyneth Paltrow and Grayson Perry have been members, as have journalist Matthew Parris and cricket commentator Henry Blofeld.
Read The Arts Club’s full profile on Spears500.com
Home House
- Where: 20 Portman Square, London W1H 6LW
- Membership fees: For those aged 35 and over residing in the UK, the Full Individual Membership costs £2,250 per year. Younger members under the age of 35 can join for £1,450 annually. Social Membership, which provides access only in the evenings and weekends and does not include gym access, is available for £1,100 per year.
The storied history of Home House starts in 1773, when Elizabeth, Countess of Home, took ownership of the estate on 20 Portman Square. Two years later, she commissioned renowned Neoclassical architect Robert Adam to transform it into one of the most extravagant private homes in London.
It wasn’t a mission he took lightly – the house was adorned with hand-painted ceilings, an imperial staircase and a glass dome, all of which remain preserved today.
Read Home House’s full profile on Spears500.com
The best private members’ clubs: the complete list
Click on the individual names to be directed to more detailed profiles of each company on The Spear’s 500 website. The table is ordered by ranking and then alphabetically.
Contact us
- Click here to order a print copy of The Spear’s 500.
- To apply for inclusion in The Spear’s 500, complete our submission form.
- For further information about rankings, please email research@spearswms.com; we aim to respond to all queries within two working days.
- For commercial enquiries and questions relating to enhanced profiles, please contact Commercial Director Shady Elkholy: shady.elkholy@spearswms.com
- To keep up to date with the Spear’s 500, subscribe to our magazine, newsletter and follow Spear’s on Linkedin and Instagram.
- If you have missed calendar deadlines for our research cycles in 2025, you can still register your interest for updates about upcoming research and rankings.
