- Nick Jones (entrepreneur)
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For people with a similar name, see Nicholas Jones.
Nicholas Keith Arthur Jones (born 1963) is an English entrepreneur. He is the owner of the Babington House hotel and health club and founder and chief executive of Soho House UK Ltd, which specialises in luxury private members’ club venues with restaurants, cinemas, health spas and bedrooms, with some aspects open to the public. He is married to the broadcaster Kirsty Young.[1]
Contents
Early life
His father was an insurance broker.[2] Jones grew up in Cobham, Surrey, the third of four children. At seven, he was sent to boarding school. By his own admission, he didn't shine at school, and partly puts this down to his dyslexia. By the time he left school at 17 he had decided on a career in catering. "It was considered a shit job, 20 years ago. But that was partly the reason why I wanted to go into it. Plus, I'm obsessed with food." He was partly influenced in this decision by the fact that his mother "was a great cook in the Robert Carrier mould".[3]
Career
The rooftop bar at Soho House in New York
After leaving school he joined the Trusthouse Forte training scheme in 1980.[4] He spent eight years with the group, rising to marketing manager at Grosvenor House Hotel in Park Lane. In the 1980s, Jones created Over the Top, a small group of restaurants.
He opened the Soho House Club above his Café Boheme restaurant in 1995. His current portfolio includes six London restaurants (Balham Kitchen & Bar, Barcelona, Boheme Kitchen and Bar, Café Boheme, Cecconi’s and Electric Brasserie).
The clubs include Soho House (London and New York), Babington House in Somerset, and the Electric House and High Road House & Brasserie in London.
The group has also developed the Cowshed spa and salon along with a line of Cowshed-branded hair and body products.
Babington HouseIn 1998 he acquired Babington House, which offered a private members’ club and cinema but, unlike Soho House, opened its restaurant to the public.
In that year, he was cautioned by police after eleven Polish illegal immigrants were found working at the hotel.[5] The hotel has gained a strong celebrity following, hosting many notable weddings.
In 2003, he opened Soho House New York (with 24 bedrooms, a cinema, bar, restaurant, Cowshed spa and private members’ club), along with the Balham Kitchen & Bar and in early 2004 took over the daily operation of Mayfair restaurant Cecconi’s which was reopened in late 2005 after a complete makeover.
Personal life
He has two children, Natasha and Oliver,[6] from his first marriage to Tania.[7] He married his second wife TV presenter Kirsty Young[8] at Babington House in September 1999, having met her there in 1998. They have two daughters, Freya (born February 2001) and Iona (born April 2006). Amongst several homes, they own a house in Los Angeles, California, USA.
References
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0949784/bio
- ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/nick-jones-pefecting-the-art-of-pampering-514891.html
- ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2003/apr/13/foodanddrink.features8
- ^ http://www.profile-marketing.com/journal/interview.asp?id=22
- ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1320820/Celebrities-hotel-risks-fine-over-immigrants.html
- ^ http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/article6982477.ece
- ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2003/apr/13/foodanddrink.features8
- ^ Profile of Kirsty Young in the Daily Mail
External links
Categories:- 1963 births
- British restaurateurs
- English businesspeople
- Living people
- Nightclub owners
- People from Cobham, Surrey
- British hoteliers
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