Kensington Roof Gardens plunges to £26m loss
The company behind the revamped Kensington Roof Gardens suffered a £26m loss after the venue reopened as a private members’ club, its latest accounts reveal.
The grade-II listed former nightclub, situated on London’s swanky Kensington High Street, unveiled plans to launch as a members’ club in February last year, offering annual memberships of up to £2,000 per person.
That helped the company, set up by Ovo Energy founder Stephen Fitzpatrick, achieve a turnover of £4.3m in its first few months of trading. But this was dwarfed by the £25.8m loss accrued over the course of 2024, adding to the £6.6m loss the previous year.
Since then the company has secured a £15m loan from Ben Oldman, a “special situations” lender, which is charging the club an eyewatering 17.5 per cent annual interest rate.
In a statement in its accounts, Kensington Roof Gardens said it had “adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future.”
The gardens, which were previously owned by billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson’s Virgin, were opened in 1938 following the construction of the Art Deco Derry and Toms department store below, a building which now houses the Mail and i newspapers as well as luxury gym Equinox.
Latterly the gardens became a popular celebrity haunt as a nightclub, and were visited by the likes of Kate Moss, Freddie Mercury, Madonna and Diana, Princess of Wales. The roof gardens – among the largest in London – were also famed for the roaming presence of pink flamingos, which have since been rehoused elsewhere.
Virgin, which had run the site since 1981, closed it down in 2018 after a dispute over the terms of a lease extension. Fitzpatrick, who is thought to be worth more than £2.2bn according to the Sunday Times, swooped in to take on the site in 2023 and reopened it last year.
A Kensington Roof Gardens spokesperson told City PM: Over the past two years, there has been significant investment into The Roof Gardens, sparking a revival of the iconic London landmark.
“The transformation has created jobs, reimagined the private members’ club experience in the capital, while delivering a positive impact for the Kensington community.”