An upmarket west London private members club for families described as a “Soho House for kids”, co-founded by the wife of one of Prince William’s closest friends, has abruptly shut down.
Maggie & Rose, which has clubs in west Kensington and Chiswick, stunned members last week when it send out an email saying it was shutting its doors “temporarily” due to “staffing and operational challenges.”
The email added: “Our members safety and experience is our top most priority. We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused.”
The decision has infuriated members who pay fees starting from £210 a month in Kensington and £140 a month in Chiswick to be able to chill while their children enjoy top of the range play areas.
Facilities at the clubs include “a cinema snug, reading corner, soft play and baby space, as well as epic class studios” in Kensington, and a tree house, cooking school, and a “double decker party bus” in Chiswick.
The Kensington club even had a Jackson Pollock room, where children were allowed to splatter paint for fun.
In one Whatsapp group message a mother wrote: ”They just took my money and closed with no explanation of when or if they may reopen again...I have a newborn and a two year-old. Am left with no other option for classes or spend double the amount on a different club.”
Another complained that the news her child “crying for days” after a planned birthday party had to be cancelled.
She wrote: “I have booked my daughter’s fifth birthday two months ago and bought cake,. card, return gifts etc...and paid Maggie & Rose a down payment.
“Everything was settled but four days before the birthday was about to happen they send me an email cancelling it, not even giving an alternative to solve the issue and not even refunding my deposit.”
The club, which frequently appeared on lists of the most exclusive in London, was founded in 2007 by New Zealand entrepreneur Maggie Bolger and her business partner Rose Astor, who married Prince William’s friend Hugh van Cutsem. Their daughter Grace, was a bridesmaid at the royal wedding in 2011.
The founders have not been involved in the business since 2019 when a stake was sold to a Chinese company called China New City Commercial Development, but Van Cutsem has said: “Maggie and I are very sad to hear of its closure.”
The company is six months past its deadline for filing its accounts with Companies House. The most recent accounts made up for the year to end August 2021 shows that it has net debt of more than £1.5 million.
No one was available from the club to comment.
However a member of staff at the Maggie & Rose pre-school nurseries, which operate from the same premises but have been owned and run by a separate company called Grandir UK since 2022, said they remain open and operating normally.
