The Groucho Club to open permanent new venue in Yorkshire

Groucho Bretton to be housed in Bretton Hall, renowned former arts institution. First time Groucho has opened new club outside London in its history. New club will be set within world famous Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

The Groucho Club, the renowned private members club which has acted as a hub for the arts, literature, and media community in London for almost four decades, is to open a permanent location outside the capital for the first time in its history.

The new club, to be called Groucho Bretton, will be housed in Bretton Hall, the former home to Bretton Hall College, which has its own equally storied history as an innovative and much-loved community of artists training as teachers through specialised courses in design, music and visual and performance art.

Located in the heart of the world-famous 500-acre Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) in Wakefield, Groucho Bretton will also have 40 bedrooms, open to non-members, who will receive the benefits of membership throughout their stay. Leading the project will be Elli Jafali, recently appointed CEO of The Groucho Club who joins the club in April 2024.

Artfarm, owners of the Groucho Club, and Yorkshire real estate investor Rushbond Group have an agreement in place with Wakefield Council to develop the site, and Groucho Bretton, with the support of YSP, will build on both the Groucho and Bretton Hall’s reputation for attracting like-minded, culturally engaged individuals contributing to the creative and artistic life of the area and beyond.

Scheduled to open in 2026, Ewan Venters, CEO of Artfarm, said today: “This is possibly the most exciting venture in the 39-year history of the Groucho. We have done pop-ups at literary and music festivals in the past, but this will be the first time we have set up a permanent home outside of London’s Soho. Groucho Bretton will have a life of its own, separate from the original Groucho, but equally with a uniquely eclectic style and personality rooted in both people and place.”

Jonathan Maud, chairman of Rushbond Group, said: “The international significance of Yorkshire Sculpture Park and Bretton Hall, coupled with the Groucho Club’s reputation for creativity and companionship has all the magic ingredients to make Groucho Bretton a successful venture.”

Councillor Denise Jeffery, Leader of Wakefield Council, said: “The longstanding reputation of Bretton Hall as an innovative arts institution, makes for a perfect setting for Groucho Bretton. It’s great that Bretton Hall will be entering a dynamic new phase of its history, enhancing our area’s reputation as a cultural centre.”

Clare Lilley, Director of Yorkshire Sculpture Park, commented: “For three generations, Yorkshire Sculpture Park has been loved by millions of people who are enthralled by its unique union of exceptional art and heritage landscape. Groucho Bretton takes the estate into a new era, and importantly will conserve and bring back to life the magnificent eighteenth-century building that was once the centrepiece of the estate and has lain empty for 16 years.

Ewan Venters continued: “The heritage of Bretton Hall is one of the factors that originally attracted us to this site, and our plans will be respectful of these traditions while reinventing its appeal by creating modern spaces for our members, new and old, locals or visitors, to work, to play, to meet, to take part in events and to help us turn Groucho Bretton into a place where everyone feels at home. We want people to feel they are part of a family and a community, not just a members’ club.”