Nur-Sultan, the capital city of Kazakhstan with landmark Baiterek tower. Image by cosmopol.

Dynamic leadership and entrepreneurial thinking are required to help the global economy recover. We speak to seven leaders in the Kazakhstan chapter of one of the world’s most respected business organisations about mutual support among entrepreneurs, and their country being a touchpoint between east and west. Curated by Gauhar Kapparova

LUX’s Editor-at-Large Gauhar Kapparova

A first-time business visit to Kazakhstan is likely to end up with two overarching impressions. Firstly, of the sheer size of the country. The distance from the biggest city, Almaty, to the centres of oil production on the Caspian sea is an astonishing 3,000 kilometres. Even the short hop from Almaty to the shiny new(-ish) capital Nur-Sultan is an hour and a half on a plane.

The second impression is likely to be one of the openness and dynamism of a new entrepreneurial community. Kazakhstan often speaks of itself as a key country between east and west, with China to the east and Russia and the Caspian sea border of Europe to the west. It is also focussing on moving beyond its oil and gas-based 20th-century economy, with the majority of growth coming from other sectors.

To this end, the country teems with spirited, can-do entrepreneurs, unfazed by the distances they have to travel to get to the world’s financial centres and proud of their country’s potential. A new generation of largely western-educated business people add to the cosmopolitan feel.

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At the heart of this enterprising business community is the Kazakh chapter of YPO (Young Presidents’ Organization), a global members group for chief executives and owners of significant businesses. Entry is by invitation only and open to those who own or run substantial businesses. Benefits are notable: an instant network of the highest level of contacts in your country and around the world, gatherings, conventions and seminars, and a highly sophisticated support network.

True to the country’s buccaneering business spirit, the Kazakh division of the YPO is known as one of the world’s most dynamic. There is no better insight into the opportunities in the central Asian country or into the minds of its prominent business leaders than from the YPO Kazakhstan chapter leaders we interview here.

ALINA ALDAMBERGEN

Chair of the Management Board, member of the Board of Directors of Kazakhstan Stock Exchange

Aldambergen’s career in the finance industry began in 1997 as an analyst and manager at ABN AMRO bank in Kazakhstan, then as a senior rating advisor in the global finance markets for the same bank in London before returning to Kazakhstan to chair the bank’s management board. After a series of senior posts at various financial institutions, she moved to the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange in 2016.

Alina Aldambergen. Image by Sergey Belousov.

LUX: Tell us about yourself and your experience. What distinguishes you from other YPO members?
Alina Aldambergen: I’ve been working at the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange since February 2016. In the 17 years since I was first appointed as chairperson of ABN AMRO Pension Funds Asset Management Company in Kazakhstan back in 2003, I have held a number of different management positions at private and state-owned companies.

My key expertise is in being a senior manager. Unlike other YPO members, I’ve never been an owner of a company. It is possible, of course, that one day I might decide to set up my own company, but I haven’t come to that decision yet.

I like to manage large-scale companies. It is important for me that I work for institutions that make an impact, which is why during the past ten years I have worked for companies in Kazakhstan that are owned by the state.

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LUX: How did you became the manager you wanted to be? How did you train and did you have any formal business education?
Alina Aldambergen: I happened to develop my career when the country was changing from the Soviet planned economy to a market economy. This was a significant transformation for the whole country, economically and mentally.

The country’s president was a visionary, he knew that this would require a new mindset and people with new sets of skills. That’s why the government set up a scholarship programme to send students to study abroad. I was awarded one of these scholarships and studied for an MBA at the Simon School of Business Administration at the University of Rochester, one of the top 25 business schools in the world at that time. I studied corporate finance and accounting, essential for doing business and setting up the financial system in Kazakhstan. Another major influence on my career has been working for the country’s first international bank.

Even though now I would think that doing an MBA straight from undergraduate school is a bit too soon, in my case it gave me all the essential skills to do business and manage business in Kazakhstan. I am still using all the concepts that I studied at business school in my everyday life.

Of course, I took various courses in different subjects later on, but still, the fundamentals are what keep you going. I am a strong advocate of keeping up your business education throughout one’s lifetime.

LUX: What motivated you then and what motivates you now?
Alina Aldambergen: I am motivated by excellence. However, that has to be adjusted for the environment that you are working in. At any job I have always tried to come up with the best business model, get support from the stakeholders, and follow it through. I will leave a company if my values do not coincide with those of the company.

I am a strong believer in not wasting time – why do so if you could be doing something more valuable and interesting elsewhere? It is important for me to bring worth to a company, its employees and shareholders, and to society. I want to see the results of my work make an impact.

Courtesy KASE

LUX: Why did you decide to become member of the YPO? Why it is important for you?
Alina Aldambergen: I joined YPO in Kazakhstan in 2018. For me, it was an exclusive members club of business people – true, self-made achievers. To become a member was prestigious for me. Another point is that YPO is an international organisation, so in that regard I considered it as another step forward for myself. I also recognised that it is an influential organisation that can make an impact on various issues concerning society.

LUX: What else does YPO bring to you?
Alina Aldambergen: I think I discovered even more value once I had become a YPO member. There is a wealth of knowledge, significant networking opportunities and an exchange of opinions that you can draw on.

I like the YPO concept of oneself, family and business all together. I think it is important that YPO encourages this amongst its members. Your spouse or child can become a member of the organisation and it provides access to the same education as you can get elsewhere. It really enables generations of business people to grow.

I also like the forum meetings. I found that they are a place where you can receive and share professional advice with your peers on dealing with different situations. I think this is the most valuable experience of the YPO membership.

ARMANZHAN BAITASSOV
Chairman of the Tan Media Group and publisher of Forbes Kazakhstan magazine

Baitassov is a Kazakhstan media manager, professional TV journalist and businessman. He has founded multiple media outlets, including his first TV channel, Channel 31, in 1992 the Megapolis newspaper in 2000, the Business FM radio station in 2018, and in 1994 the Radio 31 radio station. In 2017 he was elected chairman of the board of the Kazakhstan Media Alliance.

Armanzhan Baitassov. Image by Andrey Lunin

LUX: What age were you when you thought you might go into business as a career?
Armanzhan Baitassov: I was 19 years old when I decided to go into business. The first time we thought about business was in the late 1980s, when it became possible to engage in private entrepreneurial activity.

LUX: Who were your inspirations in business and how and why did they inspire you?
Armanzhan Baitassov: We were inspired by the guys who were able to earn a lot of money back then in Soviet roubles, guys as young as us who were also searching for opportunities to make money.

LUX: What were your first steps? Did you have any formal business education?
Armanzhan Baitassov: We started in advertising, reselling the advertising slots in newspapers. At that time, there were no textbooks about business, so we learned everything along the way.

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LUX: What were the most important parts of this learning phase of your business life?
Armanzhan Baitassov: I graduated from the Faculty of Journalism at Kazakh State University and immediately went into the media industry, where I still work. Of course, in the early 90s there were problems with funding, there was not enough equipment or it was incredibly expensive, and legislation in Kazakhstan was not fully regulated. But we had enough advertising in the first year and big contracts with Procter & Gamble and Unilever.

LUX: What motivated you then and what motivates you now?
Armanzhan Baitassov: At first, the big motivation for us was creative work. We were young, we worked day and night to make our media more and more popular. Now, of course, we are more mature, but the main motivation remains to do something new to make our world better.

LUX: What are the unique challenges of business and enterprise in Kazakhstan?
Armanzhan Baitassov: There is the powerful influence of the state on the economy. It hinders entrepreneurship and corruption has penetrated all levels of power and the economy. Doing business in Kazakhstan can be simply unsafe, but there are also development institutions that are helping small and medium-sized businesses thrive. All systems work well, but look carefully at your segment, especially if it contains any state-owned companies and corporations.

The Forbes building in Almaty, Kazakhstan

LUX: What’s the secret of success in business?
Armanzhan Baitassov: For me it’s that I am interested in doing business, in watching companies develop and doing it myself, and not just being a shareholder and observing. When you are immersed, then you’ll succeed. And what probably helps is my belief that everything will get better every year.

LUX: What are your plans for the future?
Armanzhan Baitassov: The pandemic has changed all my plans for 2020 but I really want to develop media abroad in Russia, Uzbekistan and Georgia.

LUX: Who are your business heroes now?
Armanzhan Baitassov: Of course, there are people I admire such as Jeff Bezos, and Larry Page and Sergey Brin. There are also people here who inspire me, such as Vyacheslav Kim and Mikhail Lomtadze at Kaspi Bank. But today my business heroes are the young entrepreneurs in Kazakhstan.

LUX: The media business is going through unique challenges now. What do you think these are and where do opportunities lie?
Armanzhan Baitassov: The main thing is a sharp drop in income from advertising. Many media companies have begun to work remotely from home, which is a great opportunity because of the high office costs. There may also be greater digitalisation – print newspapers are living their last days.

LUX: When did you first hear about YPO?
Armanzhan Baitassov: I learned about YPO in 2010 from Nurlan Kapparov. A year or so later we went with him to the USA, where we were invited to an event held by the YPO chapter in Washington DC.

LUX: Emotional support in business and other matters seems to be an important part of being a YPO member – is that correct?
Armanzhan Baitassov: Yes. In Kazakhstan, most entrepreneurs encounter some difficulties, maybe even injustice, and we can openly discuss these within the chapter. It is an incredible support.

LUX: How does YPO support your business?
Armanzhan Baitassov: The biggest support that I get is when we hold events at Tan Media Group, almost all members are happy to come. I am especially pleased that they support the youth forum and are happy to speak to young entrepreneurs.

LUX: What does running the Kazakhstan YPO chapter mean to you?
Armanzhan Baitassov: It has become very influential. We want as many members as possible, but getting in is difficult. We have a committee that reviews all applications and only then sends them for consideration to the YPO members. We all feel a great responsibility, because each YPO member is one of our team.

AIGUL DJAILAUBEKOVA
Partner at InnoVision Management Consultancy

Djailaubekova began her career in banking 1996 in Amsterdam at MeesPierson and then ING Bank. In 2004, she returned to Kazakhstan to continue working for ING. Since 2007, her work in banking has included senior management roles at Citibank and HSBC in Kazakhstan and at large regional banks. At InnoVision she focuses on management consultancy, financial services and education.

Aigul Djailaubekova

LUX: What age were you when you thought you might go into business as a career?
Aigul Djailaubekova: I started my career about 25 years ago. Prior to then, being an ambitious straight-As student, I was set on an academic career but after a short teaching tenure, I decided to explore new opportunities in commercial and international business.

LUX: What were your first steps? Did you have any formal business education or training? Which companies did you work for?
Aigul Djailaubekova: I won a British Council scholarship to study at Lancaster University in the UK. After graduation, I landed a job in the Trade & Commodity Finance department of the Dutch bank MeesPierson in Amsterdam. I moved to ING Bank N.V., where for several years I covered financial institutions in various countries as a senior regional manager. Then I joined ING’s office in Kazakhstan as an expatriate manager.

LUX: What have you learned in your business life in recent years?
Aigul Djailaubekova: Over the past decade, I have been deputy chairman of the management board at Citibank and HSBC in Kazakhstan and in a few large local banks. Those were vastly different experiences for me in terms of their corporate cultures. All the successes and disappointments made me a stronger and perceptive manager as well as a more resilient and, hopefully, wiser person.

LUX: What are your business plans?
Aigul Djailaubekova: A few years ago I started thinking about setting up my own bank with a team of like-minded investors and banking professionals. In view of the multimillion investment required, it’s ambitious but most successful businesses at their early stages dare to dream big.

LUX: What are the unique challenges of business and enterprise in Kazakhstan?
Aigul Djailaubekova: It is important that foreign investors have a strong local partner who will be on the same page in terms of their business vision to help them navigate through the local bureaucracy.

LUX: Who were your inspirations in business and how and why did they inspire you?
Aigul Djailaubekova: My main inspiration in life is my family. I’ve always been driven by a desire to do something meaningful, to contribute to financial prosperity of our family, to be a good example for my children and to be a source of pride for my parents. Thanks to them and my husband, I have never had to face the choice of being a mother and wife or a being a banking executive.

Aigul Djailaubekova with her husband

LUX: What advice would you give anyone starting out in business?
Aigul Djailaubekova: I would say three things. Firstly, dream big and dare to have it all. One might not achieve each and every goal along the way, but it’s worth trying. Secondly, dare to follow your dreams, especially when you’re young. And thirdly, when you feel that the current trajectory is no longer satisfying, or that there are other opportunities opening up, dare to change to a new path.

LUX: How did you first hear about YPO?
Aigul Djailaubekova:Several years ago from some of my friends and business acquaintances. The Kazakhstan chapter was founded by Nurlan Kapparov, a highly respected businessman and visionary. It was very flattering when two of the long-standing members suggested I join, which I did more than five years ago. I was the first female YPO member in Kazakhstan.

LUX: Has being a woman member made a difference to the local chapter?
Aigul Djailaubekova: One of my missions was to break the image of our chapter as a closed, all male club. Later, I heard that initially some members had been cautious about a woman joining the chapter, but knowing several members before I joined and the fresh perspective and insights I brought helped me to gain the trust of other members.

LUX: How does YPO Kazakhstan benefit wider society?
Aigul Djailaubekova: Kazakhstan’s chapter has evolved from an elite business club to an organisation that strives to make differences in society. Some initiatives between the government and local businesses were introduced at the instigation of YPO. The charity balls supporting good causes are regular events now. And there are charity projects, such as the Ana Yui (Mother’s House) founded by one our members, which has become a nationwide movement saving thousands of babies from being sent to orphanages.

LUX: In what way does being a YPO member support and help you personally?
Aigul Djailaubekova: For me, YPO brings great value through business advices and insights and as a platform for personal development through the forums, training and special events. I have become good friends with most YPO members and their families, socialising outside official chapter events. When making a radical career shift, I took comfort from the forum and some closer friends at YPO to whom I could turn for advice.

SIDDIQUE KHAN
Founder and CEO of Globalink Logistics Ltd

Khan has worked in transportation since 1990. He established Globalink Logistics in 1994. In 2011 he was named Entrepreneur of the Year by the American Chamber of Commerce. As well as chairing multiple committees relating to his sector, he also advises Kazakhstan’s government on the development of transportation and has a particular expertise in the Belt & Road Initiative.

Siddique Khan

LUX: What age were you when you thought you might go into business as a career?
Siddique Khan: I started part-time work while I was studying to gain practical experience and to earn some extra money. It turned out to be one of the best opportunities of my life. I was able to learn how small businesses work, and the hands-on experience helped me turn my visions into practical business ideas.

LUX: Who were your inspirations in business, and how and why did they inspire you?
Siddique Khan: I was always fascinated with the ancient Silk Road and became particularly aware of it when I started a job in transportation and logistics in 1990 while supervising the distribution of humanitarian aid in Afghanistan. I saw the Silk Road’s heritage everywhere. In 1994, following the collapse of the USSR three years earlier, I set up a new business in Almaty to build a world-class transportation and logistics business that would eventually revive the ancient Silk Road.

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LUX: How did you go about setting up this business venture?
Siddique Khan: Fundraising for a start-up to revive the Silk Road was anything but easy. After months of struggle, I managed to raise the seed capital, helping me launch Globalink Logistics on a shoestring budget. Choosing Almaty as a base was not a popular decision in those days, as most foreign investors were entering the former USSR market through Russia. Looking back, it was the right decision. It has helped Globalink gain recognition as the first international logistics company in Kazakhstan. Today, it has operations in nine locations in this country, more than 32 service centres in the former USSR and with representation in 55 countries.

LUX: What were the most important parts of this learning phase of your business life?
Siddique Khan: Companies have to re-invent themselves frequently, adapt to ever-changing market conditions, manage risk effectively, develop a competent workforce and invest in new technologies to be able to compete on a global stage. We must learn to overcome the uncertainty of the future and continuously educate ourselves to be able to stay ahead.

One of Siddique Khan’s company’s containers on the move

LUX: What motivated you then, and what motivates you now?
Siddique Khan: Giving financial success a purpose is still the most incredible motivation for me and gives me an enormous satisfaction in my work. My real thrill in life is not accumulating wealth, but to seek ways to use financial resources to create life-changing opportunities for others.

LUX: What are the unique challenges of business and enterprise in Kazakhstan?
Siddique Khan: Kazakhstan is a typical frontier market, offering high risk and higher reward. Overall, it and the Central Asian Republics are resource-rich economies with limited service sectors and infrastructures. There are viable business opportunities if one can cope with the numerous challenges of these emerging markets.

LUX: What advice would you give to foreign companies coming to Kazakhstan?
Siddique Khan: It is essential to learn and appreciate the cultural differences when you are doing business in this region.

LUX: YPO seems to be a unique business organisation. Is this true?
Siddique Khan: YPO is a unique group of exceptional executives that provides a network with a common aim: to become better leaders through lifelong learning. Every member seeks the knowledge and principles of success not only for their businesses but also for their families, friends and, most importantly, for themselves.

LUX: In what way does being a YPO member support and help you personally?
Siddique Khan:  Much of the YPO member experience comes from the local chapter, where you meet other business executives in your area. Although the organisation attracts high-achievers who are very competitive, the chapter also offers a sense of openness. Chapter life is full of action, ranging from family retreats and business events to executive education, counselling, healthcare and much more.

Depending on the size of the chapter, there are several forums. A forum is a group of about eight to ten people who meet frequently to discuss business and personal issues in a judgment-free and confidential environment. Forums become the sounding board for topics that you wouldn’t like to discuss anywhere else. I can confidently say that my forum has become my family. We trust and support each other – no matter what.

The professional, educational, spiritual and networking support that I got from the organisation helped me not only to transform myself but my business and family life as well. Thanks to YPO, I have become a better executive, spouse, father and friend.

RAMIL MUKHORYAPOV
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Chocofamily Holding

After early enterprises in Moscow, Mukhoryapov returned to Kazakhstan in 2011 to work in e-commerce, founding Chocolife.me, the country’s first online marketplace. This has since expanded to become Chocofamily Holding, Kazakhstan’s leading internet company with eight brands covering services such as online payments, health, travel and food delivery.

Ramil Mukhoryapov

LUX: What age were you when you thought you might go into business as a career?
Ramil Mukhoryapov: I was 19 years old when I started my first business. It was a club for parties for students. My first idea was for a comfortable and fun student life.

LUX: Who were your inspirations in business and how and why did they inspire you?
Ramil Mukhoryapov: I was inspired by a few Russian and international entrepreneurs such as Richard Branson, Oleg Tinkov, Sergey Galitsky and Evgeny Chichvarkin. I was inspired by their energy and their desire to change the world.

LUX: What were your first steps – which companies did you work for, how did you train and did you do formal business education?
Ramil Mukhoryapov: I studied at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation in Moscow. I used to read interviews with various entrepreneurs in the business newspaper Vedomosti, in which they described all sorts of business situations and how they dealt with them. Reading newspapers was my main training. I had no formal business education, just my basic finance education at the university.

LUX: What were the most important parts of this learning phase of your business life?
Ramil Mukhoryapov: I loved reading the biographies of top entrepreneurs such as Howard Schultz of Starbucks, Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, Steve Jobs, John Rockefeller, Feodor Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of IKEA, and Richard and Maurice McDonald. I was inspired by their lives and their decision making.

LUX: What motivated you then and what motivates you now?
Ramil Mukhoryapov: At first I was motivated by money and the photos I saw in magazines that depicted businessmen like happy guys with beautiful lives. Now, my main motivation is to change the world. I would like to change the relationships between companies and employees, to change the service in our country and to create new possibilities in economics. I think that business people are sort of engineers of the world.

LUX: What are the unique challenges of business and enterprise in Kazakhstan?
Ramil Mukhoryapov: I don’t think that Kazakhstan offers any particularly unique challenges in business but it does have great potential for entrepreneurs, because of the very low levels of competition.

LUX: What advice would you give to foreign companies coming to Kazakhstan?
Ramil Mukhoryapov: First of all, welcome to our country! There are many great possibilities to start a business here. We are growing very fast, have a stable economy and political regime. Also, we have potential in retail, e-commerce and so on.

LUX: What is the secret of success in business and what keeps you going?
Ramil Mukhoryapov: I think that it depends on two things. Firstly, you should work a lot and very hard. And secondly, ambition. If you are not satisfied with the results, they have to push you to go further. It’s important not to say “enough” – that’s a very dangerous word in business.

LUX: What are your business plans?
Ramil Mukhoryapov: Our plan is to build the biggest e-commerce company in the region and to become the first tech company from Kazakhstan to be known worldwide. To keep pace with Amazon, Google, Facebook, Apple and others – that’s our goal and I believe that everything is possible.

LUX: Who are your business heroes now?
Ramil Mukhoryapov: My business hero now is Elon Musk. He is a person who makes crazy things. He does not just dream about something, he does it. He inspires me to think the same way. We shouldn’t build barriers in our minds.

LUX: When did you first hear about YPO?
Ramil Mukhoryapov: The first time was when I was a student. I read a book by Artyom Tarasov, one of the first Russian millionaires and the first YPO member from Russia. That was about 19 years ago and I knew then that I wanted to join YPO.

LUX: What were your perceptions of YPO before you joined?
Ramil Mukhoryapov: YPO is a unique business organisation. It consists of the best entrepreneurs from Kazakhstan and enables you to communicate with others from different countries.

LUX: How does YPO support your business?
Ramil Mukhoryapov: I have two examples. First, two of the YPO members in our chapter became investors in my company: Timur Turlov and Aidyn Rakhimbayev. Second, when I need to speak with the managers of the big Russian e-commerce companies, I can get their contacts through YPO Connect and they answer quickly.

LUX: How often are chapter meetings held?
Ramil Mukhoryapov: Formal meetings happen on average 10 times a year. They take priority in my schedule. I appreciate the ideas and advice I get from them – they are like a personal board of directors.

ELDAR SARSENOV
Chairman of the Management Board of JSC Nurbank

Before his banking career, Sarsenov led the marketing at TAG Heuer in the US and worked his way up to being deputy director of sales and marketing at Helios LLP, the Kazakhstan petrol station company. He was the managing director of JSC Nurbank for three years, during which he managed the credit card department, IT and marketing, before he became the bank’s chairman in 2015.

Eldar Sarsenov. Image by Valery Ayapov

LUX: What age were you when you thought you might go into business as a career?
Eldar Sarsenov: I started thinking of myself as some kind of business person when I was maybe six or seven years old. At the time, I was in the US living near tennis courts where I worked as a ball boy. It was then that I understood the value of being paid for your services.

LUX: Your family was prominent in business already – you took a very international route when starting your career. Why?
Eldar Sarsenov:My career started early, helping out in my family’s business when I was still in school. When in college, I did some internships and later on I was working in a few businesses in Kazakhstan, so my career started locally. My first international work was in New Jersey, at TAG Heuer, as part of my MBA.

LUX: Who were your inspirations in business?
Eldar Sarsenov: I was inspired first by my parents’ enterprise in the early 1990s. When I was in college, a few professors who were also successful business people also influenced me.

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LUX: What business education do you have?
Eldar Sarsenov: My bachelor degree in science and business administration was from Suffolk University in Boston, and my MBA is from Northeastern University. Formal education helped my decision making and my ability to assess business practices in all sorts of situations.

LUX: What motivates you now?
Eldar Sarsenov: That’s easy. I am motivated by problem solving, by overcoming crises. I look at the person I was prior to certain events and can see how they transformed and improved me.

LUX: What are the unique challenges of business and enterprise in Kazakhstan?
Eldar Sarsenov: It’s a great place to conduct business, but one of the biggest challenges is its population size. It is a little below 20 million and no matter how efficient or effective you are, technologically and otherwise, at some point you will hit the ceiling of what market you can get.

The flag of Nurbank, of which Eldar Sarsenov is chairman

LUX: What’s the secret of success in business?
Eldar Sarsenov: There’s no big secret. Work hard, be kind to people, be a good person, and stay motivated. That’s harder than it sounds. You’ll be motivated at first but, later, obstacles might slow you down. The trick is to keep moving.

LUX: What are your business plans?
Eldar Sarsenov: Going international is in the plan for me. As a company, you need to cover as many countries as you can. It is healthy and financially sound.

LUX: Who are your business heroes now?
Eldar Sarsenov: The ones who surround me, such as those who survived the break-up of the Soviet Union and prospered for the benefit of the country. Also my YPO friends, who are people of high ethical standards and great business acumen.

LUX: When did you first hear about YPO?
Eldar Sarsenov: I first heard about it through friends and business acquaintances. My friend and mentor Armanzhan Baitassov, who is a YPO member of some stature, suggested I join.

LUX: What were your perceptions of YPO before you joined?
Eldar Sarsenov: I thought it was something along the lines of a fraternity of some sort. But when I saw a meeting, which was informal, I was impressed by the comradeship.

LUX: In what way does being a YPO member support and help you personally?
Eldar Sarsenov: It’s put into perspective what I am today as a business person. It has shown me how my strengths could be furthered, and how my weaknesses can be minimised.

LUX: YPO seems to be a unique business organisation, especially in its forums.
Eldar Sarsenov: Yes, the forums are what make YPO so sought after. Chapters consist of five to eight people. They are designed to be part of the YPO experience, where people can meet regularly within their own groups and discuss problems with work, family, or personal development.

LUX: Does YPO help with international contacts also?
Eldar Sarsenov: International contacts are what YPO bring to the table once you become a member. It provides a platform called YPO Connect that enables you to connect with YPO people round the world. I have helped members from Latin America, Europe and Australia who were interested in financial services in Kazakhstan.

LUX: What does being a YPO chapter member involve and what do you need to do?
Eldar Sarsenov: You get from YPO what you invest. If you make time, reach out to people, follow guidelines at meetings and participate in forums, then YPO gives back a lot. Since I joined in 2019 I have tried to be at every event and reach out to every member. YPO has been great for me. I look forward to meeting new people after the pandemic, and I urge everyone to consider joining this great organisation.

TIMUR TURLOV
Founder and owner of Freedom Holding Corp.

Turlov is an entrepreneur and financial expert who established Freedom Finance in 2008. Becoming part of Freedom Holding Corp. in 2015, the company is a leading retail brokerage and investment bank in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Turlov is a specialist in the US stock market and regularly comments, reports and lectures on financial and economic matters in business publications.

Timur Turlov, CEO of the Freedom Holding Corp.

LUX: What age were you when you thought you might go into business as a career?
Timur Turlov: I was hungry to earn money when I was at least 13. At 15 or 16 I had my first more or less serious job (as a junior media analyst) with an ‘adult’ salary.

LUX: Who were your inspirations in business and how and why did they inspire you?
Timur Turlov: I am not sure that I really can name any. I started my own business not because of my ambitions, but because my employer closed its investments arm.

LUX: What were your first steps? Which companies did you work for, how did you train and did you do any formal business education?
Timur Turlov: I have no formal business education. I started my career in the stock market industry in Moscow at a small proprietary trading firm founded by American who was a former Soviet Union citizen. Then I switched to a retail brokerage firm that was part of a medium-sized commercial bank, and became the youngest TOM manager by my third year. Then the investment arm closed after the 2008–09 crisis.

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LUX: What were the most important parts of this learning phase of your business life?
Timur Turlov: I always was very practical. I learned a lot from my colleagues and partners, from googling and reading the necessary information to solve specific tasks.

LUX: What motivated you then and what motivates you now?
Timur Turlov: We live in a world where the winner takes it all and you need to be the best in the industry just to survive.

LUX: What are the unique challenges of business and enterprise in Kazakhstan?
Timur Turlov: The main challenge is being almost alone in your industry. A weak competitive landscape can be a problem when you eat your bread alone. And that’s an opportunity as well, of course.

LUX: What advice would you give to foreign companies coming to Kazakhstan?
Timur Turlov: Kazakhstan is a country of open doors. It’s very easy to get here and you will be warmly welcomed, but you have to manage expectations extremely carefully.

LUX: What is the secret of success in business and what keeps you going?
Timur Turlov: My ability to build relationships, to sense the direction the wind is blowing in and to create products that are in demand. And, of course, luck.

LUX: What are your plans and business dreams?
Timur Turlov: We need to expand more actively into the EU and from there, globally. Competition in my industry is already global and we need to grow to be competitive enough tomorrow, to be attractive enough to become a target for acquisition, or to acquire our competitors worldwide.

LUX: Who are your business heroes now?
Timur Turlov: My team, my competitors… No stars.

LUX: When did you first hear about YPO and from whom?
Timur Turlov: From my friend and client, Marat Shotbaev, three or four years ago.

LUX: What were your perceptions of YPO before you joined and what made you want to join?
Timur Turlov: I knew it to be a club of successful people from the business elite in our country.

LUX: YPO seems to be a unique business organisation. Is this true, and if so, how and why?
Timur Turlov: The spread across medium and large enterprises in Kazakhstan seems to be wider than usually found elsewhere in the world. So here, YPO is a club for large businesses.

LUX: In what way does being a YPO member support and help you personally?
Timur Turlov: Through the unique experience of the forum meetings, which unfortunately have been less frequent over the past year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

LUX: How does being a YPO member support your business?
Timur Turlov: Business is always about the development of relationships, and YPO helps to develop it much further.

LUX: Does YPO membership help you with international contacts as well?
Timur Turlov: I have never tried to use the international power of YPO.

LUX: What does being a YPO chapter member involve? How frequently do you have formal meetings, and international meetings?
Timur Turlov: Unfortunately, I have never participated in any of the international meetings, but this is only my second year of membership and international travel has been restricted, of course, for most of 2020.

Find out more: ypo.org

This article features in the Autumn Issue, which will be published later this month.

Visitors to The Garrison Club at Chelsea Barracks are greeted by the art-deco inspired lobby

Chelsea Barracks in Belgravia is one of the most spectacular luxury developments in the world. And at its heart is the semi-secret Garrison Club, a discreet private space where an all-star team of concierges look after their residents every need, as Anna Tyzack discovers

It’s a typical Belgravia street scene – majestic townhouses, gleaming black railings, sausage dogs, cyclists and shoppers. Yet behind the pale stone buildings of Chelsea Barracks is a secret organisation, working 24/7 to ensure the residents of London’s newest neighbourhood want for nothing. “Anything’s possible,” explains André Bremermann, general manager of Chelsea Barracks. “From private jets to movie screenings, from business meetings to introductions to prep schools – we have the relationships in place to make these things happen.”

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The Garrison Club is not dissimilar to the Society of the Crossed Keys in Wes Anderson’s 2014 film The Grand Budapest Hotel – it’s formed of leading concierge staff from five-star hotels, as well as prime developments such as One Hyde Park and 199 Knightsbridge. Never before has a service on this scale been available to an entire community – every resident in the 5-hectare Chelsea Barracks development is automatically a member. “What we’re doing here is unique,” Bremermann says. “Chelsea Barracks is not a gated community, it’s a new and exciting part of Belgravia – yet residents can enjoy the security and services of a five-star hotel.”

The Chelsea Barracks townhouses

An average Belgravia townhouse, according to luxury staffing agency, Greycoat Lumleys, has a staff of five or six; residents in 8 Whistler Square, which is just one building within Chelsea Barracks, have access to a team of more than 38 people. This is what makes The Garrison Club so ground-breaking, says Bremermann: residents enjoy the same freedom and anonymity as any Londoner yet with a powerful support network at their fingertips. “They can contact us via the Chelsea Barracks Residents app or on the phone,” he explains. “It’s the modern equivalent of bygone Belgravia when households had footmen, valets, butlers and housekeepers.” Indeed, there’s even a Garrison Club Rolls Royce parked up by the main entrance, ready to whisk residents to Harrods or anywhere else they want to go within a two-mile radius. “You see cars like this at the world’s finest hotels but never private residences,” Bremermann says.

Read more: Sea2See recycles marine plastic to create fashionable eyewear

His team are well aware that true luxury is time – and this, he says, is The Garrison Club’s main consideration when responding to their members. Residents at 8 Whistler Square are greeted by the same faces each day, who will offer to help with their shopping, ask if there is anything they can organise, without ever being intrusive. “It’s about having the right presence and being intuitive enough to read people,”

Bremermann says, “Never a long conversation but always an acknowledgement.” The Garrison Club runs the communal parts of the development, which so far include a Technogym, Elemis spa and 20m pool, connected to the residences and townhouses via lifts and underground walkways. With the app, residents can book training rooms or a Pilates studio, or treatment suites in the Elemis spa. “We know leading personal trainers and beauty therapists and can put our members in touch with them,” Bremermann says.

Residents of the new townhouses at Chelsea Barracks are able to use the facilities of The Garrison Club, such as the spa and pool (above)

His team also runs the private cinema, which has tiered seating for 16, blankets and a popcorn and drinks bar, and the games room with private drinks cabinets for residents and a billiard table. “We can arrange food and drinks at any hour of the day,” he says. “We’ll get to know the residents and make sure we have what they want to hand.”

Read more: Introducing the next generation of filmmakers

The private business suite, with lounge area and two boardrooms, is a surprise hit with residents, who are opting to work from home rather than travel into the office. The Garrison Club staff are on hand to provide tea and coffee and help with the video conferencing and other technology. “If lunch is required, we can arrange for it to be delivered from Daylesford Organic up the road within an hour,” Bremermann says. “We enable our residents to be flexible – which is another luxury in today’s world.”

Residents can make use
of the business centre

For families, the fact that The Garrison Club has relationships with top private schools including Garden House and Eaton House is reassuring, as are its links with leading staffing agencies who can source nannies, housekeepers and drivers. The club can help organise events such as 21st birthdays and christening parties in the opulent Residents Lounge, which can be booked for a relaxed dinner for friends or larger celebrations. “Residents can bring their private chef or we can find them caterers,” Bremermann says. His team also has a close relationship with entertainers Sharky & George, who host some of London’s most elaborate children’s parties. “We can transform the Residents Lounge into a jungle with real crocodiles, Komodo dragons and meerkats as well as aerial acrobatics,” says George Whitefield, co-founder of Sharky & George. “Or an Alice in Wonderland UV disco with edible bubbles, karaoke and 60mph candyfloss.” Bremermann also anticipates helping organise private events in the communal pool and in the spas at the 13 newly completed townhouses, all of which have pools.

The Billiards Room at The Garrison Club

It’s The Garrison Club’s all-seeing eye that Bremermann expects residents will be most grateful for, though. Chelsea Barracks will evolve into a lively neighbourhood with cafés, an art gallery, restaurant and an NHS health centre, but the club’s job is to make sure its members are safe and secure at all times. “It seems free and open here but there are many discreet cameras and everybody working for The Garrison Club is also part of the security team,” Bremermann says. “We know who goes for a run every morning; we know who is familiar and who isn’t. We look after Chelsea Barracks like it’s our own home.” For residents with older children who are studying in London, this support is reassuring, he continues. “We’ve employed people who really care. This is our residents’ London home and it’s our job to make it feel that way.”

The residents’ lounge

As more townhouses and residences are complete, and more residents move into the neighbourhood, The Garrison Club will grow and evolve too, Bremermann says. “We’ll listen to the residents and react to their needs – even if eventually we have to use a golf buggy to respond to their calls.” He sees the moving-in process as a key part of The Garrison Club’s role – so far his colleagues have arranged state-of-the-art machinery to transport valuable artworks and pianos through upper-floor windows and have overseen snagging lists for overseas residents making internal changes to their properties. “There are always glitches when you move into a new home – we are here to smooth things out.”

The Garrison Club is causing quite a stir in Belgravia. One resident is investing in a residence in Chelsea Barracks in order to gain membership, while those who would previously have bought up the period townhouses on Eaton Square are opting for penthouses in the development. “I can see why they’re making that choice,” Bremermann says. “In Belgravia, you’re buying a legacy; at Chelsea Barracks you’re buying a legacy and also a lifestyle.”

For members only

A private jet to Paris
Garrison Club has links with VistaJet, and can also book you lunch at the Le Grand Véfour.

Supervise your shopping
Staff are on hand to receive deliveries and will unpack your groceries.

Plan your birthday party
Complete with private chef, professional tablescapes and entertainment for the little ones by Sharky & George.

Find you a dog walker
Or a leading personal trainer, beauty therapist, nutritionist. Or a hairdresser, to come to the private salon in the spa.

Find a school place
The club has links to leading local private schools and can also find you a nanny and baby-sitter while they’re at it.

Find out more: chelseabarracks.com

This story was originally published in the Spring 2020 Issue.

Spring Place Beverly Hills is housed in a building designed by Belzberg Architects

Francesco Costa

Is he the new Nick Jones? Is he the new Adam Neumann? Or is Francesco Costa a totally different type of entrepreneur to the founders of Soho House and WeWork? His Spring Studios and Spring Place businesses, which operate in New York, LA, London and, soon, Milan, offer hip coworking spaces, club membership and studios for shoots, and are becoming a creative force in themselves. Clients include Procter & Gamble, Louis Vuitton, Estée Lauder, Marc Jacobs and Tom Ford. Milan will represent another big step in the global reach of a group that is harnessing the creative energy of its members in a way that might just be making the all-conquering Soho House group feel a little envious. LUX Editor-at- Large Gauhar Kapparova, a Spring member, fires some questions at the Italian creative rainmaker over lunch in London

Gauhar Kapparova

LUX: Does anything else like your business model exist, and how did you think of it?
Francesco Costa: There is nothing like it, we put together workspace, creative agency, production, events and content creation.

LUX: Did you always intend to create Spring Place even when you were creating Studios?
Francesco Costa: No, the idea came later when we saw there was a request for space from our friends and associates.

LUX: How important was the buy-in of creative leaders?
Francesco Costa: Very. Spring is a platform created for them.

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LUX: Spring Place is set to open soon in Milan, following on from NYC and LA. Why is this model so successful?
Francesco Costa: Because the community we serve has many occasions to meet socially, but not so many to meet and interact professionally.

LUX: Why Milan?
Francesco Costa: Milan has an incredible energy. Milan was the art capital of the world in the 1960s, then the fashion capital of the world in the 1980s. Today, it is the centre of design. And, I am Italian.

The meeting space and bar (above) in the LA building

LUX: Did you need to get the buy-in of the big fashion houses for Milan and how did you do this? Who else? Agencies? Celebrities?
Francesco Costa: Most of the fashion houses in Milan are already our clients or investors or friends. I expect a big support from them.

Read more: The opening of Turkey’s newest contemporary art museum OMM

LUX: Is there a signature look and feel to all of the Spring locations, or does the design of each space reflect the personality of its host city? How will the Milan space be different?
Francesco Costa: Every one is different, but there is a common factor: the quality of design and the modernity. Milan will be the same .

The Spring Studios building in New York City and the bar (below)

LUX: There is an obvious logistical advantage in signing up for the whole Spring ‘package’ (production, location, content, events, workspace and entertaining), but does this joined-up approach somehow open up more creative opportunities as well?
Francesco Costa: My goal is to give opportunities beyond the obvious advantage of signing up for ‘a package’.

LUX: Tell us about examples of the creative community supporting or encouraging their peers through the Spring network.
Francesco Costa: There are so many; our members just had the opportunity to invest in the real deal one year ago at one third of the actual stock price.

Each Spring Place location – from LA (above) to NYC and soon Milan – is unique, but the common factor is “the quality of the design and the modernity,” says Costa

LUX: Fashion, film, advertising, digital, media, print – is one more important than others for you? How do they work together?
Francesco Costa: They all work together, but fashion pays for everything.

LUX: How do you communicate with your community and bind them together?
Francesco Costa: By email.

Read more: Lenny Kravitz on creativity and champagne

LUX: Are you the new Soho House?
Francesco Costa: No. Soho House is where you grab a beer, Spring is where you create a new venture or idea.

LUX: Is food and entertainment an important part of the Spring brand?
Francesco Costa: Very!

LUX: What are your biggest challenges?
Francesco Costa: To find amazing buildings like the NYC and LA ones.

LUX: What’s your ten-year plan?
Francesco Costa: To have Spring in every major creative city, a Spring audience, and great brands incubated out of Spring.

Notes: Costa co-founded Spring Place with Alessandro Cajrati; Olivier Lordonnois is its CEO. Costa reinvented the Spring Studios concept after buying it as a studio facility in London.

Find out more: springstudios.com

This article was originally published in the Autumn 19 Issue.

Born in Paris and raised in New York, Laura de Gunzburg is a partner of the exclusive members art club The Cultivist, where she acts as the Global Senior Director and Head of Strategic Development. She is also the Founder and Chair of the Dia Art Foundation’s Contemporary Associates, as well as a Contributing Editor at Cultured Magazine and a Co-Chair at the CFDA Fashion Trust. We put her in our 6 Questions hot seat.

1. Did you always want a career in the art world?

I had no intention of pursuing it really, because it was my mother’s thing. She was involved with Dia Art Foundation and my parents collected art. I don’t think I ever really thought about what I wanted to do growing up. I was a professional equestrian and riding took up a big part of my life, the plan was to go to the Olympics. After getting hurt one year and not being able to ride, I started filling my time with other things that made me realise I had other passions. During my time at The University of Miami, I didn’t want to study art history at first, but then I ended up taking the class and started to fall in love with it. Later on, opportunities presented themselves within the art world.

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2. What are the benefits of joining The Cultivist?

If one is fortunate enough, one should become a member to be able to be presented with the right information and artworks. In the time we live in, we are pushed to consume so much information and it is hard to determine what is worth your time and what isn’t. A recognisable name is often what we gravitate towards, however, in the art world a name is sometimes not enough to ensure that the exhibition is worth one’s time.

An example of the welcome package sent to members of The Cultivist

At The Cultivist, we edit and streamline everything the world has to offer. We help facilitate on the member’s behalf by presenting them with the information we believe they can benefit from. There is nothing commercial at The Cultivist. We organise private visits and book amazing curators and speakers to come and speak to our members. The Cultivist currently has offices in London, Brussels, Los Angeles, New York and Shanghai. We can help our members from any of these cities and one does not have to travel to make use of the membership. In London alone, we have four events every month which can be anything from a collection visit to a private studio tour. For example, we have previously done a pottery class with a ceramic sculptor and a private tour of the Da Vinci collection with the Queen’s conservator at Buckingham Palace. In Los Angeles, we have organised a private visit with the image archive at the Getty Centre, where they pulled out photographs for the members to see.

3. What does a normal day in your life look like?

Every day is very different. A big part of my job is engaging with new and prospective members at The Cultivist. I also engage with existing members, work on new opportunities, see new exhibitions and speak with partners for future collaborations. I am based between New York and London, travelling between the two cities.

The Cultivist organises private visits to exhibitions and museums for their members

4. What do you wish to see more of in the art world?

I long for people who would speak more about the experience rather than the value of an artist or an art piece. There is an extensive amount of eagerness in regards to being market-driven. Art can often be seen as unapproachable. I believe art should be more about the experience and less about the value.

Read more: Photographer Koto Bolofo & Connolly celebrate Goodwood’s glamour

5. Who are your favourite artists at the moment?

In my personal collection, you can find Conrad Shawcross, Matt Connors, Louise Bourgeois and Sam Moyer. Another artist that I love is Wayne Thiebaud, he’s currently on my wish-list.

6. Where do you see yourself 10 years?

I see myself having my own business. The Cultivist will always be my baby as I am a partner of the company. However, I do want to build something of my own, something that stems from my own idea. I love connecting people and putting people together. That is what I am good at. I can see myself starting something related to that idea.

Follow Laura on Instagram: instagram.com/ldegunzburg

Interview by Andrea Stenslie

Home Grown is the latest members’ club to open in London aimed at business professionals

This month, a new members’ club opened its doors in Marylebone, London. Sister to Home House, Home Grown is geared towards the business elite and deep-pocketed investors. We speak to the collection’s Managing Director Andrew Richardson about mixing business with pleasure

Andrew Richardson

1. There has been a recent rise in members’ clubs offering not just first-class facilities but also the chance to join a professional community, why do you think this is?

With the private members’ club sector becoming increasingly competitive, there is obviously an evolution of niche offerings, with potential members seeking specific benefits to them. Perhaps it could be compared to the restaurant sector where we all look for specialist cuisines, themes and menus over general offerings.

Over the years and despite the changes we have seen in London’s club scene, what has remained evident is the sense of belonging fundamentally linked to members’ club. As operators of these establishments it is our responsibility to curate an inclusive environment where relationships flourish organically; this is equally as important in the contemporary business club, with individuals increasingly mixing business with pleasure.

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2. London is home to a wide variety of clubs, what makes Home Grown different?

Home Grown is a hybrid, combining the luxuries of a members’ club whilst answering the needs of a high growth entrepreneur. Our objective has been to create a community of likeminded entrepreneurs, who are on a sometimes challenging journey. Our members’ events calendar has been specifically curated to support the entrepreneur’s journey, particularly at a high growth stage. Our affiliates and strategic partners support in areas such a legal, wealth and finance, tech, wellbeing, strategy and HR have been aligned to facilitate business growth.

3. What excites you the most about the project?

Just the sheer enthusiasm of the entrepreneurs that are joining Home Grown. The fact that members are unashamedly able to talk business, share ideas and mix with their potential investors. We have also been extremely well supported by our ‘Rock star’ entrepreneurs and those that have been through the entrepreneurial journey.

Spread across five Georgian townhouses, Home Grown features 35 boutique bedrooms, a brasserie-style restaurant, study café, several bars, business lounges and meeting rooms

4. Do you think it’s important for members’ clubs to be selective about who joins?

In this case, absolutely, as the real value-add is in the richness of the community and the unrivalled networking opportunities. We have identified and selected key criteria ensuring a membership mix of predominantly high growth entrepreneurs, whose businesses have an annualised growth of 20% or more in either turnover or employees together with investors and performance business leaders.

Read more: Geoffrey Kent takes us on a journey into The Kimberley

Interiors have been designed by Russell Sage Studio

5. What are your top tips for prospective applicants?

Home Grown has been designed as a platform for individuals who not only work to live, but live to work. Applicants should be open and specific about what they are looking to gain from their membership from the application stage, in order to obtain the most value from their membership.

If you are serious about accelerating or continuing the high growth of your organisation, this is the absolutely the community for you.

6. What’s next?

With regards to Home Grown, we are currently looking at possibilities to bring the concept to some of the larger cities in the UK.

As a brand, we continue to look forward for opportunities to expand, which could be within the private members’ club or boutique hotel sector. We will continue to celebrate our eclectic membership through our expansion and retain the pivotal elements in the DNA of the Home House Collection; fun, conviviality and eccentric British excellence.

For more information on Home Grown visit: homegrownclub.co.uk

Vicky Xu with one of her racehorses

LUX Editor-at-Large, Gauhar
Kapparova

Vicky Xu, the head of Hong Kong venture capitalists Global Group’s new Lifestyle & Sports Club, has brought her lifelong love of horses to bear on the exclusive benefits the club offers its members. She tells LUX Editor-at-Large Gauhar Kapparova what it takes to make her club that bit different and how to turn a horse into a winner

Vicky Xu is vice chairman of the Global Group, the Hong Kong-based venture capital investment company, and CEO of the group’s Lifestyle & Sports Club. A citizen of the world with a passion for horses, she tells LUX Editor-at-Large Gauhar Kapparova about her motives for launching her new sports and horse-racing club, offering private members exclusive access to some of the greatest equine and sporting events – and ensuring a happy life and eventual retirement for the horses.

LUX: Where did your love of horses begin?
Vicky Xu: It all started in Mongolia, when I was eight years old. My first riding experience took place during a summer holiday with my father. Mongolia’s horses can be wild, but I remember talking to the horse before climbing on its back in an attempt to calm him, asking that he be gentle, as it was my first time to ride. Horses are renowned for being sensitive to human emotions and interacting with people. As a result, I had an amazing first-time experience on horseback, and since then I have been in love with horses and continue to ride in Hong Kong and London.

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LUX: With so many members clubs now in existence, how is the Global Group Lifestyle & Sports Club different?
Vicky Xu: It is designed for anyone around the world who wants to experience prestige privileges in addition to participating in world-class sports and thoroughbred racing events as well as networking and entertainment. The club offers unparalleled benefits to our members.

The club will hold 20 outstanding horses and the number will increase based on the number of members. Our stable has been expertly bred and trained and will participate in Royal Ascot and other important events such as Newmarket’s Guineas and July Festivals, York’s Dante, the Ebor Festival and Glorious Goodwood. Aside from these events, the club’s horses will also have the opportunity to participate in top horse-racing events in Europe, such as the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and Le French May. Members can share in net prizes won by the Club horses as well as experiencing these top international events in person.

Each year the club will either organise or provide access to a minimum of 12 events for members. While major race meetings will always be a highlight, with members attending events in the UK, France, Dubai and the US, other sporting offerings will include premier car-racing events such as Goodwood Revival and the Goodwood Festival of Speed; the Wimbledon tennis championships; a selection of exclusive, invitation-only gatherings such as the amfAR Gala in Cannes. There will also be an annual gala dinner held at the Palace of Versailles.

We also offer our members the opportunity to create their own tailored experiences. These include the chance to meet with world leaders, captains of industry, and the superstars of fashion, entertainment and sports.

Vicky Xu with Johnny Hon (far left), the chairman of Global Group, and Ed Dunlop (far right), the trainer of Hon’s horse Global Giant, ridden by Gérald Mossé at Ascot

LUX: What are the challenges of running an international members club?
Vicky Xu: There are literally thousands of details that must be attended to daily to ensure the execution of the highest levels of service to our international members. While most of our events are exclusive and by invitation only with limited-seat availability, we want all our members to have the opportunity to participate in our events. We have no choice but to limit our membership to about 360.

LUX: What are your top three picks of the private events that Platinum members have access to?
Vicky Xu: Exclusive access to a private box in the Royal Enclosure at Royal Ascot; exclusive access to various world-class events at Goodwood Estate, including Glorious Goodwood, the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Goodwood Revival, and Formula One races. We also provide assistance to attend The Wimbledon Championships, the oldest and most prestigious annual tennis tournament in the world.

The finishing line of the Royal Hunt Cup at Ascot, 2018 (above), with Vicky Xu speaking

LUX: Members have the opportunity to have assets in the horses. How does this work?
Vicky Xu: The Global Group already has its own professional team of horse breeders and trainers in the UK, and over the past three years it has been honing its skills in these areas. We have hired a professional team and have a better understanding of the sport, which is of potential benefit to our members. The club will apply this knowledge to its own stable of racehorses, aiming to acquire horses that will race in events around the world, with members sharing in the winnings.

The club’s professional team is committed to its quality breeding programme, with its many years of experience in the pure-bred horse industry and access to advanced DNA technology. The value of this expertise is significant in producing quality race horses. Members will be able to benefit from the added value of horse assets while also enjoying the exhilaration of horse racing.

Read more: Why you Aman Le Mélézin is this month’s hottest hotel

LUX: Describe the thrill of a horse race.
Vicky Xu: At Royal Ascot last June, we brought some of our prominent guests and they all enjoyed the perfect racing experience, seeing the horses cross the finish line and capturing the best moments close at hand in the Royal Enclosure. In addition to the club’s 20 horses, the group currently has 40, one of which came fifth this year and was awarded Best Looking Horse on Ladies’ Day.

LUX: Who is your favourite designer to wear to the races?
Vicky Xu: I always believe in the maxim ‘you are what you wear’. There are so many designers I like. The most important thing is to respect the dress code and style etiquette of each race day.

LUX: How have new DNA technologies changed the horse industry?
Vicky Xu: Genetics testing has definitely arrived in the world of thoroughbred horse racing. Our professional team knows well that the modern thoroughbred’s performance is based on a great deal of things including the genetic ability of the horse and environmental influences including the condition of the horse and the track, the jockey, the competition and the race distance. But a good horse also needs courage, heart ,grit and the determination to win. Racehorses are actually professional athletes. We have to train them, love them, communicate with them and respect them.

Xu riding in Hong Kong

LUX: Why is the club setting up a charitable fund to look after retired racehorses?
Vicky Xu: We want to ensure that once their days on the track are over, the racehorses will be well cared for.

LUX: Where do you see the Global Group Lifestyle & Sports Club in ten years?
Vicky Xu: We’ll explore even more exclusive and prestigious events from all over the world for our members. I trust we can recruit many more international members in 10 years’ time and let more people enjoy the exhilaration of horse racing and other tailor-made events. I hope that one day the club’s charitable fund will be able to provide opportunities for more people, especially children, to enjoy horse riding and its many benefits, such as improved confidence, therapeutic and emotional benefits and the many physical rewards that the sport brings.

LUX: When you’re not at the races or working, what do you enjoy doing?
Vicky Xu: I am a mother of three daughters. Other than the races or working, I really enjoy most of all to spend time with them. Time slips by, so spending quality time together is the best way we have to show each other that we care and that our families are always the most important thing to us.

Find out more: global.hk

This article was first published in the Winter 19 issue.

London-based performance artist Tom Pope & founder of the ‘One Square Club’

What do you get when you squeeze all the opulence and exclusivity of a private members’ club into a box about the size and shape of a telephone booth? You get One Square Club, the gleeful brainchild of London-based performance artist and self-described flâneur Tom Pope, and he’s taking it to LA.

DEUTSCHE BANK WEALTH MANAGEMENT x LUX

When, a few years ago, Tom Pope discovered that one square meter of residential real estate in London’s upmarket Kensington & Chelsea cost £11,365 (approximately $15,000) it sparked a brilliant idea. “I thought, this is nuts,” he recalls. “How do they get that value? What is it based on? I had to do something.” The result is One Square Club. Membership lasts no more than a day and the fee is based on the average value of one square metre of property wherever the club is. “It’s interesting how the property and art markets attach certain values, and how these values fluctuate,” he says. “As such, the value of the club’s membership goes up and down depending on where it goes.”

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Members are treated to an intimate one-on-one with Pope himself. The interior is kitted out with a bar, luxurious wallpaper, cozy lighting and a miniature art display. Pope will make you a drink and listen to your woes. Or sing karaoke with you. Or talk philosophy. In fact, anything you like, even sitting in comfortable silence. Now, with the help of Deutsche Bank Wealth Management, he is bringing One Square Club to Frieze LA. It will sit inside a fake shop window on a Paramount Studios film set, and visitors can enjoy about five minutes’ membership. “There’s a lot of interesting mirroring going on here with the concept of film stars and celebrities and the idea of celebrity itself as an exclusive club,” says Pope. “I think it fits in here perfectly.”

To read a full interview with Tom Pope visit: deutschewealth.com

This article was first published in the Winter 2019 issue.

Velocity Black offers a start to finish booking service for high-net-worth individuals 

In 2014, Zia Yusuf quit his job at Goldman Sachs and started an online, ultra-luxury concierge service with his school friend Alex Macdonald. The business is run 100% digitally through the website and app, and membership is by invitation only. We put the co-founder in the hot seat for our 6 Questions interview slot.

Co-founder Zia Yusuf

1. What makes Velocity Black different to other lifestyle services?

Velocity Black is a members’ club reimagined for the digital age and engineered for those looking to lead a limitless life. Velocity Black is built on a breakthrough technology: the world’s first conversational mobile commerce engine for the affluent consumer. Our unique technology is disrupting several multi-trillion dollar industries at once, by re-imagining and simplifying the member experience for discovering and booking travel, dining, events and experiences. Built on the principal that the only thing we truly own is our story and everything else we are simply custodians of, Velocity Black liberates members to make their story as extraordinary as it can be. From planning round-the-world trips, to obtaining the most-sought after luxury goods, a dinner that’ll never be forgotten and original experiences like no other, Velocity Black turns what-ifs, into what’s next.

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We guarantee a response time of one minute 24/7, 365 days a year. We have enabled conversational commerce for the affluent consumer delivering personalised recommendations, automatic payment and fulfilment in real-time, around the clock.

2. How do millennials compare as customers to older generations?

Millennials are the ‘experience generation’. They are bringing a shift in consumption growth away from goods to experiences, valuing a meaningful life and memories shared over material goods. There is also an increase in awareness of the wellbeing of the planet and the effect of humanity on the environment and communities. Many millennials are increasingly looking to ‘give back’. We see that our members are particularly invested in global change.

In addition, instant messaging on smartphones is the preferred form of communication for millennials and they are much more likely to use messaging while travelling. Thanks to an ‘always on’ lifestyle, millennials live in an age of immediate gratification and our guaranteed response time appeals to this.

3. Will Velocity Black ever run out of experiences to offer?

We have delivered more than 45,000 experiences in 60 countries. We strive to assist members to live a limitless life of unforgettable moments and experiences. The world is our oyster. There is always a new experience or discovery to be had and we connect members to these.

Preview the Velocity Black world:

4. Your founding members include public figures such as Gigi Hadid and Vanessa Hudgens. Why is celebrity endorsement so important for the app?

These people work on extraordinary schedules. The reason they find value on our platform is because we make experiences so easy that all they have to do is go and get on a plane, or arrive at a restaurant. Our membership acquisition is based on an outstanding reputation and incredible offering.

5. What’s the craziest experience requested or organised through the app?

Our members benefit from being part of a closed community and we take privacy very seriously. I am therefore unable to disclose the nature of any individual requests, not even the really crazy ones!

6. Where do you go from here?

Velocity Black is one of the fastest growing tech start-ups and we don’t plan on slowing down. As voice search moves from novelty to habitual routine with time poor individuals looking to optimise their time however possible, you can expect to hear Siri and Alexa booking Velocity Black experiences on our member’s behalf. We will also be launching services in health care, real estate and art, later in 2019.

Find out more: velocity.black

The Wentworth Club, located on the exclusive Wentworth Estate in Surrey, is the birthplace of the Ryder Cup and the BMW PGA golf Championship

Invitation only, private members club Wentworth is home to one of the UK’s most exclusive and historic golf courses. After a shiny redevelopment, the luxury club house is trés chic and sophisticated – and it offers much more than just golf, as Associate Editor Kitty Harris discovers

Club houses are undeniably appealing (the lure of leisure activities, beautiful lounges, long lazy luncheons), but often their estates are difficult to get to and by the time you’ve factored in the journey and planning, it doesn’t seem so seductive after all, especially if you’ve only got half a day to spare. Fear not: Wentworth Club, on the south west fringes of London, is a short distance by limo from Heathrow, making it an ideal stopover en-route to the capital.

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Located on the Wentworth Estate, home to many a celeb and royalty (it’s one of the most expensive private estates in a London suburb), the Wentworth clubhouse sits at the end of a picturesque driveway past verdant, manicured lawns and golf courses fringed by leafy trees. We take a golf buggy (what else?) from the main clubhouse up to the Tennis and Health Club where a beautiful 25-metre indoor pool awaits along with a gym, dance studio and jacuzzi. There’s also a charming terrace where members can take their lunch whilst surveying the tennis courts and discussing the power of their serve.

The indoor pool at Wentworth’s Tennis and Health club

The Wentworth Club was bought by the Reignwood Group back in 2014 and they have since invested over £20 million pounds in its redevelopment. Directed by Dr. Chanchai Ruayrungruang, a Chinese-Thai businessman, the group also own the likes of Ten Trinity Square in London – to which Wentworth Club members are granted immediate access (a serious perk).

The club attracts international, high flying business men and their families who travel to London for long weekends, as well as golfing enthusiasts, tennis patrons and spa denizens with houses in the estate where they visit and live for one week of the year. And of course, there are also the professional golfers. The club was the birthplace of the Ryder Cup and the BMW PGA golf Championship, and played host to the HSBC World Match Play Championship for over forty years.

A cosy corner in the club lounge

One of Reignwood’s most impressive developments (and most popular attractions) at the club is the serene wood-panelled spa, kitted out with Natura Bissé products and a host of Bamford Skincare options for all skin types. We try the signature massage before gliding back to the main clubhouse to explore the nineteenth century castellated features that were maintained during renovation; what is now the club house, was the former home of the Duke of Wellington’s brother-in-law. The new interiors were designed by Thorp Design of Sloane Street London, and the look throughout is plush and decadent with Chinese crafted carpets and Italian marble.

Read more: Why we love Club Dauphin on Cap Ferrat right now

We pause for a moment in admiration of the Wentworth Hall of Fame, which displays some of the club’s golfing memorabilia with a glass showcase of historic golf clubs. Members can have their clubs bespoke made and wardrobes kitted out at the Pro Shop, which more closely resembles a Mayfair boutique than a sports shop. We observe a few well-dressed members taking their coffee in the lounge, perhaps before moving onto a working lunch in one of the new private dining rooms where there are reportedly 25 chefs on hand to prepare super-deluxe menus.

The club lounge where members can socialise

As it’s a beautiful day, we choose to have lunch on the terrace, which faces one of the club’s three eighteen-hole golf courses. Over duck salad garnished with pomegranates, alongside a tipple of champagne we learn that membership at Wentworth Club is a six-figure debenture. There is also a health and tennis club membership, but no access to the golf courses, so if you’re serious about your swing the full membership is a no brainer.

For more information visit: wentworthclub.com

Spring Place New York: members-only collaborative workspace and social club

Co-working spaces are already well integrated into our urban landscapes. Companies like WeWork provide communal offices for start-ups and self-employed workers whilst the likes of Soho House invite members to use their residences for wining, dining and the occasional signing of a multi-million deal. Spring, however, aims to marry the two by offering physical studio spaces to rent and membership to a network of high profile brands and individuals. LUX Editor-in-Chief Darius Sanai speaks to the co-founder and CEO Francesco Costa about his vision

Francesco Costa

LUX: Can you tell us about the concept of Spring?
Francesco Costa: I see Spring as a brand and an experienced company. It’s a brand that helps other brands and individuals in the luxury and aspirational industries to grow their businesses. We work with already established brands and freelance individuals, and it is the connection between these more established brands, emerging brands, talented young people and established talents that creates a unique environment.

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We now do creative agency production, post production and digital; we have studios, we have event spaces, we have co-work spaces and all of this together means that our clients or members or even our shareholders see us not as transaction opportunity, but as a long term opportunity. We are building a community and as a member of that community you are entitled to certain benefits. For example, we did an Estee Lauder campaign with Misty Copeland, the first African American Female Principal Dancer with ABT (American Ballet Theatre) and then we started working with ABT, and now we are the agency for ABT. We create certain content for them and some programming and then through us ABT got in touch with other brands that they want to sponsor ABT, and that creates further opportunities. That’s how this ecosystem works. Of course, the physical space has a key role because a lot of co-brands are trying to complete this without the investment – by that I mean not just a financial investment but an investment in time and the effort of finding a physical space – and it’s very difficult to do without having a physical hub in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, London, Milan where people can actually meet, where people can create opportunities. I think it is impossible to achieve what we are trying to achieve now.

An example of Spring’s stylish co-working space at Spring Place New York

LUX: When you started Spring, was the intention always to go in this direction? Or did it start more as a studio space that companies could use?
Francesco Costa: It’s interesting because everything started as a real estate investment in New York. Myself and Alessandro Cajrati, my business partner, had the idea to create a studio event space, a hub for fashion. Our partner was Jimmy Moffat, the creator of Art and Commerce, let’s say he was our expert in the field. And then we discovered this company in London called Spring Studios (founded in the late ’90s strictly as a studio space), which we thought could be a good partner – they approached us and we liked their vision.

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The music room at Spring Place NY

Robin Derrick had just joined and Robin’s vision was to create content for companies that were functioning in the digital space. Then at a certain point, when the project in New York was growing, we saw that there was a synergy in what we were doing so we merged the two companies (the American investors remain the majority investors). That’s how Spring Studios as we now know it started.

Then a bit later, approximately two and a half years ago, there was a co-worker revolution which attracted a lot of attention – it became a kind of trend – and I thought it was interesting to give a physical space to the fashion community. The fashion community, but also the art community and other communities involved in the business of culture, tend to travel a lot and have a lot of social interactions. Frieze is a good example, or events or fashion shows or dinners that fashion brands put on, but there was no place where you could meet more professionally and during the daytime so I thought that there was a need for this kind of space, a place where CEOs or the head of communications can connect and collaborate with other brands and individuals.

The main dining room at Spring Place NY where professionals can meet and socialise

LUX: How does your business model work? How do you benefit from the collaborations?
Francesco Costa: There two things that I get out of it: one is the attachment to the brand, to the physical space. The co-brand has an advantage working with Spring or being at Spring which brings them closer to us. The second is on the offer and the pricing. For example, we have showrooms that we rent for 2000/3000 dollars a day and we don’t rent for 2000/3000 a day because the real estate is better that the real estate next door which rent for 1000 a day, we rent it at that cost because the odds are that a journalist or a CEO or a famous blogger walks by, sees the product and thinks that it’s worth talking about or engaging with. I actually have a recent example of this. A very small, new shoe brand run by two young women with limited capital, launched their product in one of our showrooms and a buyer for one of the biggest retails was in the space for another meeting at that time. He saw the product, loved it and they signed a multi-million contract. This is what we offer, and this is what I mean about the benefits the community can provide.

Travelling professionals and members of Spring can also make use of the bar area to meet with friends or relax

LUX: Finally, can you tell us a little bit about the brands that work with you and the kinds of projects you might work on together?
Francesco Costa: Of course – Estee Lauder might shoot a campaign in the studio, but that’s just the start. If we talk about our clients for whom we do the production, we have Tom Ford, Marc Jacobs, L’Oreal to name a few. We do their campaigns. Then we have a whole other set of partners or clients for whom we run events. For example, we work with Universal Music, we did the Grammy’s week in January, New York Fashion week twice a year, Tribeca Film Festival, the list goes on.

To learn more about Spring’s studios and events visit: springstudios.com

Image by Chris Tubbs

Elizabeth Taylor, Annabel’s 1985

To those of a certain net worth and vintage, the name Annabel’s has for decades been synonymous with the finest type of decadence. The nightclub in the heart of Mayfair was host to generations of bright young things, lascivious old things, the super-rich, Hollywood and music celebrities. Whether you were stopping off in London between homes in the Hamptons and St Tropez, or you were a Chelsea debutante interested in meeting the private jet-set, the canopy on Berkeley Square was where your dreams began.

In recent times, though, Annabel’s was overtaken by hipper venues of the new London crowd: the Arts Club for dining and schmoozing, 5 Hertford Street for drinking and clubbing at LouLou’s. A standalone nightclub seemed a bit 1983.

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Now, under the aegis of new owner Richard Caring (owner of The Ivy Collection of restaurants, as well as Scott’s on Mount Street and other private clubs including Harry’s Bar and George), the nightclub is being reborn, a few metres along from its original location, but accompanied by an extensive private member’s club space that will look after its well-to-do guests from early-breakfast to late-clubbing time.

Image by Chris Tubbs

Dubbed an “all day and all night experience”, the new Annabel’s will feature restaurants, including a year-round terrace, a spa, members’ lounges, a cigar fumoir, a bar in which to warm up your date, and a new, bigger, better nightclub in which to seal the deal – financial, romantic, or both.

The various areas are being designed and curated by a who’s who of uber-celebs in their fields including Mario Testino, Charlotte Tilbury and Martin Brudnizki. Former members will be invited to rejoin, but there will also be an influx of the young, beautiful crowd; all in a location that beats any other Mayfair members club into a corner.

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Location and the place itself, are, of course, only part of the equation that makes up the world’s best members’ clubs: the members themselves are the most important draw, as Nick Jones has demonstrated with his global Soho House group (in which Caring is a shareholder) which caters to a totally different crowd.

Cigar Terrace. Image by Chris Stubbs

But, a few months before its grand reopening, Annabel’s has everything going for it, including a matchless brand, ready to be passed between generations. Watch this space, and, if you want to get onto the new membership, start sweeping through your contacts list and make some pleading calls with your best-connected friends. Or you could try them direct, at [email protected] – but be prepared for disappointment unless you have some well-connected backers.

annabels.co.uk

Darius Sanai

The colonnaded entrance to Ten Trinity Square

By Darius Sanai, Editor in Chief

Your Rolls-Royce breezes past the Tower of London, in the shadow of the Shard, the Cheesegrater and the Walkie-Talkie, London’s newest icon buildings, and drops you at a set of stone steps leading to a grand Edwardian entranceway, past four 10 metre tall Greek-style columns. Up a couple of floors, past a restaurant run by three-Michelin-star chef Anne-Sophie Pic and the reception area of the Four Seasons Hotel in the building, you are ushered through another set of thick wooden doors. Then, down a grand corridor with exquisite marquetry, and, voila, you have arrived in the Chateau Latour Discovery Room (the world’s only such space), just in time for a contemplative glass with two of the most powerful people in finance and the arts.

That is the vision of Songhua Ni, President of Reignwood Investments UK, and his boss Dr. Chanchai Ruayrungruang, Chairman of parent company Reignwood Group, one of China’s leading international investment groups. Reignwood is the owner of Ten Trinity Square, the landmark, former HQ of the Port of London Authority, in the City of London. In stages this year, after more than five years of planning and rebuilding, Reignwood will open the Four Seasons Hotel London at Ten Trinity Square, the Anne-Sophie Pic restaurant – La Dame de Pic, 41 private residences, and Ten Trinity Square Private Club, the ultra-exclusive heart of it all, which has been developed by Reignwood, Four Seasons and Chateau Latour.

As if opening the first luxury hotel in the City of London weren’t enough, Reignwood, which owns luxury real estate in Hawaii, Wentworth, and a stake in Voss water, among many other assets, has a bigger, bolder, and longer-term strategic aim. LUX Editor-in-Chief sat down with Songhua Ni in the Latour Room, to find out more.

LUX: This is going to be a magnificent club when it opens. What gave Reignwood the idea and why do it?
Songhua Ni: Dr Chanchai was just amazed by the prestige and the heavyweight and the culture behind Ten Trinity Square. And considering the history, the culture, the location, our first thought was to make this club a kind of world forum. A forum like the World Economic Forum in Davos – that’s the only thing we can do, to do justice to this building. Especially because this building has played a very important role in the history of Great Britain. And also a very important role in the glory times of Great Britain. We thought it would be a great idea, to promote culture and economic changes amongst different cultures. We think this is the right place to create a forum to promote multi-cultural exchange and understanding.

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London is playing a more and more important role in the global marketplace with the rise of Asian powers. And the emphasis is moving slowly from New York to London. London is the best location to connect Asia and the US. And London is a very inclusive city. So we thought it would be good to create a club here. But the club itself needs to show the right level of quality and respect of history. And be inclusive for all different people and cultures. This place also needs to show the vision of Reignwood, to be a responsible investor. There is a lot of short-term investment. What Reignwood is trying to do is create a long term commitment. And to try to promote responsible capitalism. We thought it was very important when Chinese people and Chinese companies come here, they should be doing the same thing. In China, there is a feeling that after the fast growth of the last 30 years, we should encourage Chinese companies to be more long-term thinking. And to be able to have the right mindset to create a real brand.

Inside the member’s club at Ten Trinity Square

LUX: And how important is the Reignwood brand in what you’re doing? How hard is it in terms of facing people who will be members – will they be aware that this is a Reignwood development?
SN: Not necessarily. Reignwood is more of a stand-behind. We own different brands. We let the brands run in the front. So every brand has its own DNA, its own management, its own culture. This is actually something we learnt from Mr Pinault [owner of Kering, which in turn owns Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Yves St Laurent and numerous other brands; and Christies, and Chateau Latour, inter alia]. He has so many brands running in the front and I think Reignwood in the future will be adopting the same strategy. We will encourage the improvement of the brand and give new life to them. For example, Voss water and Vita Coco are great brands but the long term vision for both of them is to be able to support health and wellness more broadly as well as social responsibility – which we intend to support them with.

LUX: From what you are saying this is a very long-term and quite philosophical exercise, almost creating something that didn’t exist before in terms of bringing cultures together at the very top level.
SN: I think there is a strong desire from people to see this happen. I think there is a strong consensus among top business leaders in the next decade. The important thing is to bridge East and West. To bridge the gap between Asia, China with the US and Europe. So that people from different continents can understand each other. So that bridge will create more economic growth potential. That’s why our family members are all agreeing to this. For instance Stephen [Schwarzman, Chairman and CEO of Blackstone] is very supportive. He said it’s a great idea to deliver something like this. So many people want this platform to be able to know and understand more.

European countries are looking for growth in Asia but I think most of them don’t understand Asian or Chinese culture. And Chinese companies are coming to London and looking for quality in brands but they really don’t understand here yet either. So when you combine this, that is the way to move the economy forward. Martin Gilbert [CEO of Aberdeen Asset Management], he also agrees with us as does Gerry [Grimstone, CEO] from Standard Life. These are some of our founding members, as is the Chinese Ambassador to the UK.

LUX: So far everything you have said has been about the very high ideals of what this is going to achieve. You haven’t mentioned commercial success. Is that not the number one priority?
SN: In commercial matters, value is created in different ways. Look at WEF in Davos, when they first started that nobody thought it was going to be a successful commercial effort. But now it is extremely successful.

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LUX: Is it a challenge that global business has today, that people do not understand each others’ cultures?
SN: I think it is a big problem. And in the current world it is more important than ever because of social media. Social media has made the world so information efficient, in one minute everyone can know everything about things. And that can easily create misunderstandings. People see the information, and make their judgements very fast; they don’t have time to digest.

We need this type of club, this type of forum, to invite high level thinkers from China. And from here, high level thinkers from the City of London and the British Government, for example.

The Chateau Latour Discovery Room

LUX: Reignwood is a very interesting example of a Chinese company that has very interesting holdings around the world. The big question in industry, the luxury industry, is when will there be a Chinese luxury group and a Chinese luxury brand (two different things of course)?
SN: Actually, before the Opium war in 1840 there were huge Chinese brands. We had all of the family businesses, great brands, great quality. For example, China silk, China teaware. A lot of Chinese things were so good and the quality at that time was a lot better than here. But after that there were a lot of wars. The Opium War, The First World War, The Second World War and the Sino War [the civil war and Communist revolution]. So all of these wars destroyed Chinese business. And now in new China we have only been about since 1949, its only about 70 years old. Seventy years is too short a period to have a brand. In the last 30 years China grew, its economic growth is so high, high speed, low quality. The next run of China economic growth will be driven by consumption, rather than investment. So for consumption, people who really own brands will be leading and have a competitive edge in the next decade. Chinese people are turning more and more attention to brands. For brands you either have to create it by yourself, or you need to buy. That is one of the philosophies that drives Reignwood. That is why we acquired Voss water, why we bought Vita Coco, why we bought Wentworth. Not many Chinese companies have this.

Read next: Fawaz Gruosi on luxury’s need for experimentation

LUX: Anything else that Reignwood is planning?
SN: Reignwood has a quite clear strategy; Reignwood is about global expansion and it is now quite confident. We are going to become a real global company rather than just a Chinese company. We are going to have our Voss water product which we are selling in 60 different countries. And for Vita Coco, 50 countries. Through this promotion of cultural exchanges, we are going to raise Reignwood into a global power rather than a Chinese company. I don’t think there is a real global company in China yet and our focus is two lines of business. One is our fast moving consumer products [FMCG] business and the other is leisure, sports and wellness. So these two lines will be acquiring good companies, good brands and make them combine and play together with Chinese resources and on the Chinese market.

Ten Trinity Square Private Club opens in the second quarter of 2017. For further information visit: 
www.club.tentrinitysquare.com
www.tentrinitysquare.com