New Year’s Eve in London is the biggest night of the year with millions of people flocking to the centre of the capital to enjoy the nightlife and the top night clubs hosting their most extravagant celebrity parties.
Although 2009 has been much publicised as a bad year for the economy the best London clubs are still pulling out all the stops with VIPs expected to be arriving in limousines and enjoying the events, popping Champagne bottles, as they normally would during the festive season.
These are clubs regularly frequented by A-list celebrity clubbers such as P.Diddy, JLS, Girls Aloud, Jay Z, Kate Moss and Beyonce where entry is controlled by strict guest lists and the crowd is mostly made up of elite clubbers more used to gracing the pages of Tattler than The Sun.
James WJ Wilson, Director of Forbidden London Clubs, one of the leading promotion companies in London’s club-land believes the top bars and clubs have everything to look forward to as he forecasts a great Christmas and New Year in the West End.
“London is the most fashionable city in the world and despite Gordon Brown’s best attempts to derail the economy, the nightlife – bars, night clubs and restaurants – particularly at the top end of the market, are still performing well.”
“People are perhaps not spending at the same level as they were two years ago, maybe we’ve seen the last of the bankers splurging £30,000 on bottles of Cristal Champagne for now, but overall most of our clients are wealthy and still want to enjoy themselves. In my opinion there is no better place to do that than at the best events in London which are hosted by the top clubs and promoters.”
Lord Dave West, owner of the HEYJOCLUB in St James’s is well known publicly thanks to his Cherie Blair assisted battle against the smoking ban and his penchant for bright pink suits; he echoed this view.
“I own one of the top clubs (HEYJOCLUB) and one of the best restaurants (Abracadabra Russian Restaurant) in Central London and we are finding that the high-end customers we entertain are still enjoying spending their money on fine food and fine wines”
“Many of our best clients are Russian and the government has not managed to ruin everyone’s fun yet, they’re still spending.”
With Christmas and New Year’s Eve just round the corner and most companies still planning on rewarding their staff for what could be considered a difficult year, things are looking bright for the glamorous London clubs the VIPs and celebrities love.
Celebrity gossips have whispered that Chelsea and England footballer Frank Lampard is smitten with 2008’s Strictly Come Dancing contestant and TV Presenter Christine Bleakley after flirting with her in at Amika nightclub in Kensington, London, last Saturday.
Frank and Christine arrived with a group of people from Strictly Come Dancing including Zoe Lucker and Joe Calzaghe and the dancers Aliona Vilani and Nicole Cutler. They all sat together at a table in the VIP area with Frank next to Christine.
Frank reportedly bought at least three bottles of fine Champagne - possibly Cristal or Dom Perignon - from the bar for the group even though he hardly drank himself.
The couple stayed for a lock-in until 4.30am, but it’s not known if they left in a limousine, London taxi or Mr Lampard’s motor together or if the England midfielder scored. Bleakley, 29, was reportedly first wooed by the Premiership footballer in September at the Pride Of Britain awards.
A Playboy fraudster who spent a night splurging £140,000 on Champagne at top London night clubAmika in Kensington has been jailed for scamming credit card companies out of £1.6m in the pursuit of a luxury lifestyle.
Eamon Zada ran a credit card cloning factory from his Notting Hill flat, obtaining the kind of money required for a life like a millionaire celebrity. When police carried out a search they found a highly sophisticated device which intercepts credit card details from phones.
London is famous for having had the world’s best club scene for more than 100 years. The wildest characters and celebrities such as Oscar Wilde, Jimi Hendrix, and the young Royals have all enjoyed participating in late-night revelry at the exciting parties and events they host. Even Jane Austen’s fiction focused around the courtship rituals her fictional debutantes played out in the club court life of the early 1800s.
James explains: “Forbidden London offers an amazing chance for new people and new faces to gain the opportunity to rub shoulders with some of the world’s most famous and glamorous people. And party with the elite. We are offering something no-one else has done before.”
“Everyone want a taste of the highlife? With much of the news at present being taken up with tales of economic woe and environmental chaos, the glamour and escapism of a night out at a VIP club or a trip to the theatre is extremely appealing to many. People are still willing to pay for a night out when a holiday is out of the question. The whole ritual of getting dressed up and arranging a night out with friends is something many can’t and won’t consider living without, even if they have to make other sacrifices.”
“This rings true particularly if there is a chance of meeting someone as special as a prince, for example.”
He elaborates: “Some of the clubs frequently have Prince Harry as a guest - anyone with their eyes on him or perhaps looking to date a young model will be delighted they can now rub shoulders with the people they dream of marrying or befriending.”
Top London clubs like Amika, Boujis, Cafe de Paris, Chinawhite, Embassy, Funky Buddha, Movida and Vendome have traditionally welcomed some of the World’s richest and most glamorous people through their doors. With sterling suffering, property prices falling and unemployment rising the economic downturn seems to be effecting the UK particularly harshly. Combined with the quieter summer months you would expect London night clubs to be suffering but with the help of a new service by entrepreneur James WJ Wilson business is booming and a whole host of new elite party-goers are being introduced to the scene.
The new website he launched in April this year with the help of his business partner Dave West - who has already achieved success and fame for making millions from cut-price booze and cigarettes in France and Belgium; employing Cherie Blair to fight the smoking ban; and of course his penchant for bright pink suits - allows non-members to register for access to the best clubs in London via the Forbidden London guest list.
James WJ Wilson expanded on the concept, “The London clubs have tended to keep a closed circle in order to maintain the quality of their crowd. The result of this is that is often difficult to find out information about events taking place in these amazing venues. These are events attracting some of the most famous names in celebrity circles such as Jay Z, Beyonce, Prince William and Prince Harry. The public can access these London parties if they know the correct people. We have made things easier for visitors to our website and subscribers to our newsletter by providing information about the top clubs online and most importantly giving them a channel for receiving invitations.”
A quick tour of the website, which is easy to navigate with a sophisticated black and gold look, shows the clubs open on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday may not be the same clubs open on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday. The website clearly simplifies the process of finding out information.
James explained further, “Past experience has long shown that in times of recession and doom & gloom people love to enjoy themselves whilst the devaluation of the pound against the euro has made it a better time than in a long time for Europeans to visit London.
These new faces have fed the cosmopolitan West End nightlife scene as heightened awareness in the clubs - created by the mainstream newspapers following the movements of celebrities around Soho and Mayfair nightspots - has drawn a new pool of people keen to rub shoulders with the wealthy and celebrated.”
James has been working in the nightlife industry since 2006 when he was introduced to the high-end venues he is now a virtual resident at by his business partner Dave West.
“I am a club owner myself so that’s primarily where my interest in the business is, helping the club owners and keeping the London club scene that has existed for nearly 400 years burgeoning”, Dave, the owner of the HeyJo Members Club on Jermyn Street explained, “I think it’s a fantastic way of introducing new customers to our private clubs without compromising on the type of guests we hope to attract.”
Those interested in taking a trip to London and its exclusive clubs can do so by registering for guest list or by making club table reservations via the London based website guide to clubbing, http://www.forbiddenlondon.com
Belvedere IX is the coolest new Vodka brand so it is no surprise they have decided to sponsor two of the coolest clubs: Movida and Amika. Amika are showing off their newly refurbished Belvedere IX room this Friday, it looks set to be a fantastic night with plenty of vodka, champagne and celebrations.
With the Wimbledon tennis in full swing, come and enjoy some cocktails at Amika this Thursday and Friday.
Coinciding with the London Bar Show, the Amika ‘Cocktail and Flare’ event on Thursday 24th gives you the chance to come and experience some of the world’s best bartenders. So whether you’re shaken or stirred, like it mixed or straight or simply looking for a great evening, you’ll be sure to find it there.
And to celebrate the first week of tennis, look out for the Wimbledon party at Amika on Friday 25th and enjoy some Pimms and Lemonade. No need to camp outside - just contact Forbidden London on 0845 094 5195 to find out about guest list for this top VIP club.
The top London clubs are experiencing a boom time over the Bank Holiday weekend despite the credit crunch still gripping the UK economy.
Celebrities, Premiership Footballers and Pop Stars are all out this weekend forgetting the rising national debt to flash the cash with a visit to one of the many VIP clubs in the capital.
With some of the Londonsocial calendar’s biggest parties taking place over the next four days it is no surprise the glamorous are flocking to the best nightclubs to enjoy the fun.
Amika winner of best club in 2007 & 2008 hosts it’s second birthday on Bank Holiday Sunday the same day Movida - the celeb gossip columnist’s favourite owing to the number of stars falling out the club - hosts the Premier League End of Season Party.
If you want to join in the fun there are lots of nightclubs to choose from with Forbidden London Clubs offering guest list and table reservations for most of the best clubs including Cafe de Paris, Crystal, Embassy, Funkybuddha and Maya which are all hosting celebrity parties this weekend.
Amika are spending £5,000 transforming the club with a surprise sexy, chic Birthday theme. DJ legend Pete Gooding will set the tempo before SHAPESHIFTERS (who have been flown in especially) rock the club to its black granite foundations. This will be one SAXY (sic) affair with live music and pyrotechnics!
