Finger on the pulse

Chair Simon Duffy covers the amazing progress on the East Wing and member consultations

By the time you read this edition of the magazine, we will be within a month of opening the Club’s new restaurant, Brasserie 1869, and I hope many of you will have already made reservations. I took a tour of it a few hours before writing this article and I have to say it is looking amazing, and even better than I had hoped. The members and staff involved in the selection of furnishings and finishes have done an outstanding job. The restaurant now showcases the golden thread of Hurlingham design, in a way that is both thoroughly contemporary and yet bears comparison with the heritage rooms at the heart of the main building.

With the initial menu now finalised, Brasserie 1869 will provide an outstanding setting for your enjoyment of the many fine dishes being crafted by our new Executive Chef, Chris Wheeler. Some of you will already have sampled these in Chris’s Saturday Signature Series and Chef’s Specials in the Harness Room. The feedback has been excellent and I am confident the combination of Chris’s skills and Brasserie 1869 will prove to be a winning one.

The East Wing renovation also includes the Palm Court and Broomhouse Room, both of which, with new lighting, finishes and decoration, are looking crisp and fresh.

Meanwhile, led by Richard Rawlinson, the North and West Wing Working Group is making good progress on ideas and designs. The Group has benefitted greatly from the feedback provided by members in a series of consultative meetings held to ensure that, whatever is finally proposed, reflects what the membership wants to the greatest extent possible, even if not all wishes can be accommodated.

Speaking of consultative meetings, we have just concluded four consultations with members about the Club’s finances, the purpose of which was to gather thoughts, ideas and suggestions as to how the Club should address the changed financial outlook summarised in my article in the last issue and in my subsequent email to members. The Committee is now reviewing the feedback received in those meetings and working on crafting a proposal for members’ consideration at the AGM in October 2025. Given the diversity of views within the Club, this will not be straightforward, but I want to take this opportunity to assure you that the Committee is committed to finding a solution that is in the best interests of the membership as a whole, for whom it acts as agents and custodians, and that the solution is as fair and equitable as can be managed under the circumstances. In this endeavour I hope we will all remember the Club values of excellence, responsibility and courtesy and acknowledge that even – or especially – where we hold differing views, we all have the Club’s best interests at heart.

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