Marcus Oswald Hornby Lecky Birley (29 May 1930 – 24 August 2007), known as Mark Birley, was a British entrepreneur known for his investments in the

hospitality Hospitality is the relationship between a guest and a host, wherein the host receives the guest with some amount of goodwill, including the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. Louis de Jaucourt, Louis, chevalier de J ...

industry.

Early life

Mark Birley was the son of Sir Oswald Birley (1880–1952), the

royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

and society portrait painter, and the artist and gardener, Rhoda Vava Mary Lecky Pike. His sister,

Maxime de la Falaise Maxime Le Bailly, comtesse de La Falaise (25 June 1922 – 30 April 2009), was an English 1950s model, and, in the 1960s, an underground movie actress. She was also a cookery writer and "food maven" as well as a fashion designer for Blousecraft, ...

(1922–2009), became a noted fashion model of the 1950s; Maxime's daughter,

Loulou de la Falaise Louise Vava Lucia Henriette Le Bailly de La Falaise (; 4 May 1947 – 5 November 2011), known as Loulou de la Falaise, was an English fashion muse and accessory and jewellery designer associated with Yves Saint Laurent. Author Judith Thurman ...

(1948–2011), was a muse to the fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent. He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

where he excelled at drawing. After doing his National Service he went up to

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...

to read PPE but he left after failing his first year exams after national service. He then started working as a copywriter for

J. Walter Thompson J. Walter Thompson (JWT) was an advertisement holding company incorporated in 1896 by American advertising pioneer James Walter Thompson. The company was acquired in 1987 by multinational holding company WPP plc, and in November 2018, WPP merge ...

Career

In 1963, Birley founded

Annabel's Annabel's is a private members club at 46 Berkeley Square in Mayfair, London. It was opened at 44 Berkeley Square in 1963 by Mark Birley and named for his wife Lady Annabel Vane-Tempest-Stewart. It was founded in the basement of the Clermont C ...

at Berkeley Square in the

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...

district in central London. The club was named for his wife, the former

Lady Annabel Vane-Tempest-Stewart Lady Annabel Goldsmith (' Vane-Tempest-Stewart, formerly Birley; born 11 June 1934) is an English socialite and the eponym for a London nightclub of the late 20th century, Annabel's. She was first married for two decades to entrepreneur Mark B ...

, and it was the first of its kind: a member-only nightclub that catered to an exclusive clientele, including

the Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers o ...

. In 1972, Birley opened

Mark's Club Mark's Club is a private members' club and restaurant in Mayfair, London, UK. Established in 1972, it has hosted many fashion events and been patronised by members of the British establishment. Location The club is located in a townhouse at 46 ...

and continued to expand his portfolio in the restaurant, nightclub and hotel business. He became the owner of the Annabel's Group, which includes Mark Birley Holdings Limited. In 1979 Birley opened Harry's Bar on South Audley Street in Mayfair. It became noted for its Italian cuisine. He launched a men's fragrance line, Mark Birley for Men, in 1996, in collaboration with the perfumers Frédéric Malle and Pierre Bourdon. Birley also designed the former family offices of

Peter Palumbo, Baron Palumbo Peter Garth Palumbo, Baron Palumbo (born 20 July 1935) is a property developer and art collector. Palumbo was the last chairperson of the Arts Council of Great Britain and a life peer. He sat as a Conservative in the House of Lords from 1991 ...

in the City of London into a member's club, The Walbrook Club, which opened in 2000. In 1989 Birley established the

Bath & Racquets Club The Bath & Racquets Club is a private members gym and squash club at 49 Brook's Mews in London's Mayfair district. The club has 300 members and is the most expensive private gym club in London. It was established by Mark Birley in 1989. Birley s ...

on Brook's Mews.

Personal life

On 10 March 1954, he married

(born 1934), daughter of the 8th Marquess of Londonderry (1902–1955). Annabel Birley became the mistress of Birley's former friend

Sir James Goldsmith Sir James Michael Goldsmith (26 February 1933 – 18 July 1997) was a French-British financier, tycoon''Billionaire: The Life and Times of Sir James Goldsmith'' by Ivan Fallon and politician who was a member of the Goldsmith family. His contr ...

(1933–1997), and gave birth to two of Goldsmith's children while she was still married to, but separated from, Birley. The Birleys divorced in 1975. Mark and Annabel had three children: *Rupert Birley (1955–1986; presumed dead), who disappeared whilst working in

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

, West Africa in 1986. *

Robin Birley Robin Birley may refer to: * Robin Birley (archaeologist) (1935–2018), English archaeologist * Robin Birley (businessman) Robin Marcus Birley (born 19 February 1958) is an English businessman, entrepreneur and political donor. He is the son of ...

(born 1958) *

India Jane Birley India Jane Birley (born 1961) is a British artist and businesswoman. Her father, Mark Birley, opened the private member's club Annabel's, named for her mother, Lady Annabel Goldsmith, in the early 1960s and Birley ran the club with her brother, ...

(born 1961), who married Jonty Colchester (div. 1985). She later married Francis Pike. As a child Birley's son

Robin Robin may refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), including: **European robin (''Erithacus rubecula'') **Bush-robin **Forest rob ...

was mauled and badly scarred for life by a tiger at the private zoo of family friend John Aspinall (1926–2000). In 1986, Birley's other son, Rupert, disappeared in

and was never found. He is assumed to be deceased. In his last years, Birley himself was disabled and needed to use a

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

. For a time, he turned over the reins of his businesses to his two surviving children. In 2006, however, Birley dismissed his son Robin and returned to the helm of his empire, which until his death he ran with his daughter India Jane. Birley lived at

Thurloe Lodge Thurloe Lodge is a house at 17 Thurloe Place in the South Kensington district of London. It was the home of the actor manager Nigel Playfair and was subsequently the home of Mark Birley who founded Annabel's nightclub in Berkeley Square. Birley ...

South Kensington South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...

for 30 years. India Jane sold Thurloe Lodge in 2011 for £17 million. An auction of 500 of Birley's possessions from the house was held at

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...

in March 2013. The auction realised £3.85 million.

Death

He died on 24 August 2007, aged 77, following a stroke. His memorial service was held at St Paul's Church in Knightsbridge.

References

Sources

Annabel's: A tale of love, snobbery, revenge... and some jolly good cocktails
by Liz Hoggard, ''The Independent'', 15 October 2006

Lady Annabel Vane-Tempest-Stewart *Orth, Maureen. "Hurly Birley". Vanity Fair. p. 152 (6 pages in online edition). 1 February 2008. . Retrieved 30 August 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:Birley, Mark 1930 births 2007 deaths British people of English descent People educated at Eton College Alumni of University College, Oxford Businesspeople from London British restaurateurs

Mark Birley Marcus Oswald Hornby Lecky Birley (29 May 1930 – 24 August 2007), known as Mark Birley, was a British entrepreneur known for his investments in the hospitality industry. Early life Mark Birley was the son of Sir Oswald Birley (1880–1952), ...

20th-century English businesspeople