Private club · Members' clubs
Annabel's
Not publicly disclosed: the club publishes no eligibility criteria beyond routing applicants through an online application and a recommendation from an existing Birley club member
A profile page holds what the organization publishes and what named sources report: who it admits, what it costs, how it is structured, where it operates, and how it has changed. Every figure carries the date it was checked. A dash means the organization does not publish that fact.
Founding: Founded by Mark Birley and named for his wife, Lady Annabel Vane-Tempest-Stewart
Annabel's is a private members' club at 46 Berkeley Square in Mayfair, London, opened in 1963 by Mark Birley in the basement of number 44 and named after his then wife. Richard Caring bought it in 2007 as part of a £95 million purchase that also took in Mark's Club, Harry's Bar, George and the Bath & Racquets Club; the group trades as Birley Clubs and the operating company is 46 Berkeley Square Ltd. The club closed at number 44 in February 2018 and reopened later that year in the adjoining Grade I-listed Georgian townhouse at number 46 after a refurbishment reported at £55 million, taking it to more than 26,000 square feet across four restaurants, seven bars, a cigar salon, private dining rooms and a basement nightclub. Membership is by application through the Birley Clubs portal. The club publishes no rate card of its own; subscription and joining figures in circulation come from press reporting. A New York outpost has been announced but had not opened as at September 2026.
How it works
Members and their guests use a single Mayfair clubhouse running from daytime dining into a late-night basement club. Applications are made through an online form on the Birley Clubs membership portal; Spear's reports that applicants supply a recent headshot, proof of age and a letter of recommendation from an existing Birley club member setting out how long and in what capacity they have known the applicant. Subscriptions are annual, with separate rates by age band.
Typical member
Reported as a socially prominent, international Mayfair membership. Wikipedia records that since the 2018 relocation membership has been allocated equally between men and women, and that 100 inheritable "Legacy" lifetime memberships exist, a quarter of them held by US residents.
Membership requirements
Requirements in detail, with history →Requirements are the tests the organization itself publishes: an age ceiling, a company-revenue floor, a net-worth minimum, a role. Where a figure straddles a range, the organization's own assessment decides. Local chapters can apply stricter tests than the published standard.
| Criterion | Published requirement | Provenance |
|---|---|---|
| Sponsorship | A letter of recommendation from an existing Birley club member is required, stating the duration and nature of the relationship | Verified September 2026Medium confidenceSource ↗ |
| Maximum age at joining | Reduced under-35 membership rate | Verified September 2026Medium confidenceSource ↗ |
| Maximum age at joining | Reduced under-27 membership rate | Verified September 2026Low confidenceSource ↗ |
Published criteria as verified on the dates shown. Final eligibility and admission decisions belong entirely to Annabel's. See how you compare against these criteria →
Initiation fees are paid once on joining; dues recur. Chapter dues, retreats, travel and events are usually additional and are listed separately when the organization discloses them. Figures are as published or reported on the date shown, not quotations.
| Cost | First year | Three years | Provenance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual dues | Full membership. Spear's reported £3,250 a year in May 2023; its January 2026 club guide gives £3,750. Annabel's does not publish rates. | Source ↗ | |
| Annual dues | Under-35 tier: "An under-35s annual membership comes at a reduced rate of £2,250" per Spear's, January 2026 | Source ↗ | |
| Annual dues | Under-27 tier reported by Spear's in May 2023; likely superseded by later increases | Source ↗ | |
| Annual dues | Joint membership for two people at the same address, reported by Spear's in May 2023 (£2,600 for a joint under-35 pair) | Source ↗ | |
| Initiation fee | Joining fee for full membership. Spear's reported £1,750 in May 2023 and £1,850 in January 2026. | Source ↗ | |
| Initiation fee | Under-35 joining fee reported by Spear's, January 2026 | Source ↗ | |
Structure and programming
Where it operates
1 chapters on file · 1 citiesChapters verified from published sources.
Each dot is a city with at least one chapter on file. City positions © OpenStreetMap contributors.
1 chapters
Independent context
Annabel's is a social and nightlife club rather than a business one: there is no workspace, no professional criterion and no published programme of member events aimed at work. Its opacity is the main research problem: the club's public website is a few pages and a link to an application portal, so every fee figure here is journalism rather than a rate card, and reported figures have drifted upwards (Spear's put the full subscription at £3,250 plus £1,750 to join in 2023 and at £3,750 plus £1,850 in January 2026). The waiting-list numbers most often quoted trace back to 2018 reporting and should not be read as current. Anyone weighing it against The Arts Club or 5 Hertford Street should note that Annabel's is the most expensive of the three on reported prices and the least forthcoming about how it selects.
Editorial analysis by Peer Group Guide editors. It is separated from the record above and follows the editorial policy.
Similar organizations
Alternatives, grouped by need →History and changes
Site-wide change log →- milestoneAnnabel's opened by Mark Birley in the basement of 44 Berkeley Square, with 500 founding members ↗
- milestoneRichard Caring bought Annabel's with Mark's Club, Harry's Bar, George and the Bath & Racquets Club for a reported £95 million ↗
- milestoneReopened at 46 Berkeley Square, a Grade I-listed Georgian townhouse, after a refurbishment reported at £55 million ↗
- closureThe original club at 44 Berkeley Square closed ↗
- fee changeSpear's club guide reported the full subscription at £3,750 a year plus an £1,850 joining fee, up from £3,250 plus £1,750 reported in 2023 ↗
Milestones as published by the organization or reported by a named source. “Record” entries are changes to this site’s own record of the organization, kept in the public change log rather than overwritten.
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Sources
- Annabel's — A Birley Club, Private Members' Club in London, Annabel's. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 1
- Annabel's — Club Info, Annabel's. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 1
- Annabel's Application — Birley Clubs Membership, Birley Clubs. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 3
- How to join Annabel's Private Members' Club, Spear's, May 2023. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 6
- The best private members' clubs in 2026, Spear's, January 2026. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 6
- Annabel's, Wikipedia. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 8
Source tiers follow the published hierarchy: 1 official site · 2 official membership materials · 3 application documents · 4 annual reports · 5 government filings · 6 reliable business publications · 7 credible interviews · 8 other reputable secondary sources. Sources and data policy.
Is something wrong or out of date?
Represent Annabel's? Verified representatives can submit corrections to fees, criteria, chapters and contact details, and add approved material. Submissions are reviewed by an editor and shown as organization-supplied; they never overwrite independent research.