Bluebird offers desk plus lunch for Chelsea’s hungry workers

The celebrity haunt is launching a new service aimed at those who want lunch, but need to work
Chelsea institution: the courtyard at Bluebird

Celebrity haunt Bluebird is launching a new hot-desking service aimed at the Chelsea elite who want to “arrange lunch but do some work beforehand”.

Frequented by Lottie Moss, younger sister of supermodel Kate, and the cast of reality show Made In Chelsea, with Tamara Ecclestone, below, and actors Rachel Bilson and Zac Efron also spotted at the upmarket hangout, freshly renovated Bluebird has launched a partnership with new co-working members club Workologie.

Workers can book a dedicated seat at the Chelsea venue between the hours of 9am and 5.30pm to work at.

They book the seat online and “like any other reservation” will be shown their seat by Bluebird staff on arrival. As well as access to free wifi, they will have preferential rates on hiring private meeting and dining rooms, exclusive invitations to Bluebird events and offers on food and drinks. Eventually, there will also be a travel concierge to help arrange business trips.

The brainchild of Hugo Campbell-Davys, founder of private members club and hospitality site Urbanologie, a day “membership” costs £10 per day for members of his site and £20 per day for non-members. If it is a success, he will expand Workologie to other venues, with Canary Wharf high on his priority list – and look in to selling seats for longer than just a one-day period.

Campbell-Davys, 38, said his idea was “born out of the way that I prefer to work” and was a response to an increase in Londoners working remotely. A recent study by Lancaster University, commission by Citrix, suggested up to 70 per cent of British workers would be offered flexible working or be able to work remotely by 2020.

The entrepreneur, the cousin of restaurateur and founder of Boisdale group Ranald Macdonald, said he thought of his concept as an “Airbnb for work spaces” that was aimed at “start ups, freelancers, journalists. Chelsea ladies who are starting their own business, who want to be in a semi-private environment to discuss business, or arrange lunches but do some work before hand.”

He said: “We looked to build Workologie as a perk for Urbanologie members, but then actually we thought this may have wider appeal, based on the context of the popularity of this way of working and co-working spaces. Gone are the days of segregated working in different areas or different private members clubs. Gone are the days of an office, really. The 9-5 days have gone – there has been a shift.”

He insisted Workologie was “not a rival” to trendy London co-working spaces like The Cube or WeWork or popular members clubs like Soho House but instead: “A good starter for ten. Either the [Workologie] locations are more convenient in terms of there isn’t that supply [in that area.] Or maybe for people who are considering a co-working space, this is a good start.

“[Private members clubs or co-working spaces] may not be in their price point or not suitable for their requirements from the outset. That’s the reason we have priced it like it is, to make it much more flexible. There is so much competition in terms of co-working and communal spaces but what we found from Urbanologie members is they can be very expensive and not flexible.”

Campbell-Davys added there was also an issue of sustainability adding: “We are using something that is already there and existing not building more space.”

For more information, visit workologie.club

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