Rob McGibbon interviews Felicity Kendal at Cadogan Hall Chelsea, in 2012. Photo © Hattie Miles/RobMcGibbon
The Citizen Interviews…
The Stand-Up Citizen Interview: Designer and debonair socialite Nicky Haslam
NB: This interview was written for another magazine and is re-printed here for illustration purposes
The celebrated interior designer and socialite, 84, talks to Rob McGibbon about the lost Chelsea of his youth of his youth, what he loves living in Earl’s Court, and why London worked better without so many One Way streets…
I was born in 1939, so I think of myself as a Phoney War Baby. My first home was Great Hundridge Manor, our family estate in Buckinghamshire. It was the perfect William-and-Mary house from the 17th century. We had a swimming pool, which was rare in those days, and I had a mutt terrier called Annie. Her full name was Annie Get Your Gun because I was madly in love with the actress Ethel Merman.We lived there during the war. I always remember loving the servants more than my parents. I loved my nanny, the cook, the chauffeur, the gardeners. They were all so nice and much more fun than mother and father.
Chelsea Business Players : Virgin Hotels CEO James Birmingham
NB: This interview was written for another magazine and is re-printed here for illustration purposes
“Virgin is such a disruptive brand and delivers hospitality so uniquely that after decades in the hotel business, I feel like I’m starting all over again!”
By Rob McGibbon. Editor
Virgin Hotels is starting to hit its stride, with eight hotels now open and many more in the pipeline. Leading this expansion is its dynamic, Dublin-born CEO James Birmingham.
Appointed in March 2021, Birmingham was tasked by Sir Richard Branson with firmly establishing the Virgin brand upon the global hotel landscape, as well its culture and, most significantly, its customer experience. Well, so far, he’s not doing too badly in what is a congested arena.
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