In this Q&A, we speak with Caroline Baldwin, CEO and founder of The Dally, a neighbourhood private members club focused on creating welcoming, community-driven spaces. A seasoned business leader, Caroline brings extensive experience in establishing international hospitality and leisure venues. Prior to The Dally, she led ventures like The Lexington Bar & Grill in Accra, Stellar Lodge in Takoradi, and Champs Sports Bar in Lagos.
Today, she heads up The Dally, where she manages everything from events and food and beverage offerings to community outreach. With its first site in Islington, The Dally has quickly made a name as a local hub, attracting members eager for quality experiences and community connection. Here, Caroline shares insights on The Dally‘s success, the trends shaping the club’s offerings, and her plans to grow this unique concept across London.
For those that don’t know it, what is The Dally?
The Dally is a neighbourhood private members club. We opened our first site in the heart of Islington earlier this year, a 4,000 sq. ft, three-storey venue located on Upper Street. On the ground floor, we have an all-day lounge and main bar that offers a comforting space where people come and work or socialise and relax with friends. On the first floor, we recently opened Margo’s – a 32-cover seasonal Mediterranean restaurant led by Head Chef Stefano Cirillo and open to all in the neighbourhood. The first floor also contains our hide-away Cocktail Bar, and finally, in the loft, we have a warm and cosy vaulted-ceiling event space and bar where we host in-house member events, guest events, and private dining.
It’s been six months since you opened your first site in Islington, how has trading been?
Really positive. We’ve seen strong local demand and membership levels are 55% ahead of our initial expectations. We are on track to grow significantly in terms of membership numbers over the next two to three years.
The Dally’s positive launch has been driven, in part, by significant demand amongst members to enjoy events in the club’s collective spaces. The consumer of today wants high-quality experiences. According to Barclaycard, more than half of people (57%) would rather spend money on a good experience rather than material possessions, up 5 percentage points compared to 2018, while 44% are actively seeking out new and unique experiences.
In line with this, we’ve hosted an exciting series of member events – from book launches, to comedy, live music, supper clubs, talks, quizzes and theatre trips – that have been effective in driving footfall and food and beverage purchases on-site.
After launching Margo’s over the summer, we’ve also seen good progress and increasing demand. We recently launched our Autumn menu, which led to a 66% increase in covers in September versus June, and we plan to soon launch new specials that have been chosen by The Dally members to drive more bookings over the coming weeks.
What trends are you seeing amongst members?
We always wanted The Dally to be a real destination for our members –one that they want to experience with their friends and family. Because of this, we allow each member to bring three guests to the club, which is creating new opportunities to introduce prospective members to The Dally and drive membership enquiries. Currently, 1 in 3 of all visits to the site is by a guest of a member.
Our strong pipeline of events, menu innovation, and growing membership list is also encouraging more repeat visitors. Today, one in four make weekly visits to the club and we’re looking at more ways to drive even greater footfall throughout the week.
Finally, we’ve seen really strong demand for private events. We’re conveniently located opposite Islington Town Hall, making The Dally the perfect destination for wedding breakfasts and engagement parties. We’re currently averaging 14 private events with more than 500 people per month and expect this to significantly increase in the build up to Christmas.
What is the big opportunity for The Dally?
As a brand, we’re on a mission to create welcoming and entertaining spaces where residents and businesses can feel part of a community of like-minded people within their local neighbourhood.
The success we’ve seen so far reinforces why we created The Dally. People want to feel part of a community but don’t want to travel outside of their local neighbourhood – nor do they want to pay sky-high membership fees – to feel included. The Dally has been created to reinvent the model through local clubs that are open for all, and we believe it has a really exciting future.
What’s next for The Dally?
We think we can scale The Dally to five sites over five years. We are already looking at other locations in London’s ‘villages’, where we feel we can build a similar community to the one we’ve created in Islington.
Publisher of Hospitality and Leisure News, 365 Retail, Retail Source and organiser of the Creative Retail Awards.
