Our House. Paying for the village.
A London members club for families sold out in minutes at 135 quid a month. What the parents are really buying is the village their careers cost them.
THE GIST ON OUR HOUSE: "Childcare and Private Equity"
What is Our House?
There's a private members club in London with two pools, a soft play, a creche and a desk you can work at. It's for families with young kids: £135 a month for the adults and £75 a month for the children. It sold out in minutes, because it's selling you back what your career has cost you.
It's called Our House, in Parsons Green and Kensal Rise, with three more on the way: Clapham, Chiswick and East Sheen. Blackstone, one of the biggest investment firms in the world, has put £100 million into the business.
What are parents really paying for?
Let's be honest, what they're paying for is the creche. Someone to take your kid so you can eat lunch, and a desk so you can work while someone else does the childcare. Their own website says, "Think of us as the village you've been missing."
And it's missing for a reason, because it takes a village.
Where did the village go?
The village used to be your mum ten minutes away, your sister round the corner, the neighbours you grew up with. Then you went where the work was, London, probably hundreds of miles from home. The village is exactly where you left it. You're not.
The village was always a swap between generations. The old had time to give the young, and eventually the young looked after the old.
What happens next?
A room full of working parents can't do that, because everyone in it is the same thing at once. So it hires staff to become the grandmother.
Meanwhile those kids will grow up and move somewhere else, probably. In 30 years, the parents paying for this will be 200 miles away with all the time in the world and no one to give it to.
Would you join a club like this?
Your take. One tap, then see how everyone else voted.
Quick answers
What is Our House?
A private members club for families in London, with pools, soft play and desks. It is £135 a month for adults and £75 for children.
Who is investing in it?
Blackstone, one of the biggest investment firms in the world, has put £100 million into the business.
Why is the village missing?
People moved where the work was, often hundreds of miles from family. The village was a swap between generations, which a room of working parents can't recreate.
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