Meet Vivek Narain, the man behind the exclusive members-only club, The Quorum

Meet Vivek Narain, Founder and CEO of The Quorum, a members-only lifestyle club in India, which promotes culture while building a community of people with shared interests.

The workspace as we know it, is rapidly changing globally. From shared co-working spaces to working from home to sitting in a coffee shop with free wi-fi, the office has been reinvented. Capitalising on this paradigm are private clubs, bridging the gap between five-star luxury and the amenities of an office. Along with a forum to network, and have conversations about art, music, life and other topics of interest.

The suave Vivek Narain, who holds a finance and economics degree from the American University, Kogod School of Business, Washington D.C, combined his past experience in hospitality and an extensive understanding of real estate, to design and create The Quorum, a members-only club that doubles up as a space where business and leisure complement each other effortlessly.

Vivek Narain, founder, The Quorum

Breaking the 9 to 5 office mould

In an exclusive with Global Indian, on a day’s visit to the just-launched 110,000 square feet of space that is The Quorum in Hyderabad, he shares details about his idea. He reveals how the club is more than just a place to work or relax after a guided tour. “We had set up The Quorum in Mumbai and Gurgaon and it took us two years to get the Hyderabad venue up and running. The place has everything you could need — to work, entertain, relax, hold an event, or even have a meeting, without the pretentiousness of a five-star property.”

The Quorum’s facilities geared towards wellness include two internationally certified padel courts, a pilates studio, a room for yoga, a pool, and a gym. There is also a restaurant, a members’ lounge and bar, and smaller, private rooms to hold a book club reading and conduct meetings or events. Kids are allowed only on Sundays.

Vivek is passionate about inviting speakers on a range of subjects, and the club’s activities across cities include hosting fashion pop-ups, and using the space on the walls as a gallery to promote art. The newly-launched Hyderabad club had its first show in collaboration with Srishti Art Gallery and their in-house curator ensures art gets its due importance across all three properties. He adds, “Every month we will be collaborating with different galleries and artists because I believe art is and should be an important conversation to have.”

According to an article in Forbes magazine, ‘The fastest-growing workplace isn’t home or the office, but some third place — a coffee shop, hotel lobby or, increasingly, private clubs.’ And, focussing on this trend, within five years, The Quorum has helped bridge the gap for people who are frequent travellers and are aware of trends and luxury experiences they might wish to replicate in India.

More than a club membership

The membership profile for The Quorum, according to Vivek is, “Men and women who are global Indians — upwardly mobile, have a larger goal of wanting to make an impact, and are curious about other ideas and have multiple interests. People who want to push boundaries on conversations on varied topics from geopolitics to AI; who have an interest in listening to opera or watching a Bharatnatyam performance.”

Vivek and his team showcase talents across fields; and with the club’s credibility now firmly in place, people approach them to host events — whether it is to talk about ideas or deliver high-quality content. Just the April calendar for the Gurgaon venue included events like an art soiree, a live jazz performance by Tanya Nambiar, a meditation session every Friday morning, a talk on women in business hosted by a woman member, and a conversation on sustainable fashion with designers like Nikhil Mehra, Gaurav Gupta with Anju Bhandari. Another talk with the lawyer Indira Jaising, and a whisky-tasting session along with readings from a classic by Naseeruddin Shah were on the agenda too. The Hyderabad one for its part hosted an opera night, a live sitar recital, a qawwali and a ghazal night, a conversation with the previous Governor of the RBI, D Subbarao, and a live performance by Mama Tips and The Goa Crew to name a few.

Vivek admits that some events are crowd pullers and some conversations have barely a handful in the audience, but it doesn’t deter him from pursuing this paradigm of offering something more than a club.

Keeping in mind the high-profile members, many of whom are HNIs, the club is tastefully done up. From the comfortable seating to the wall-papered library which even has a secret door that leads to a private room; an installation hanging from the ceiling, echoing the movement of birds during a murmuration, by Delhi-based origami artist Ankon Mitra to the spacious dining area, the pool etc., everything spells luxury sans the snob element. The staff is friendly and the entire space is meant to make you relax. When asked how The Quorum is different from the regular clubs, Vivek reiterates, “Those clubs are not always focussed on giving you the best quality. Even as we push the boundaries on various subjects, our kitchens promise you an excellent culinary experience too with global cuisine on the menu.”

 

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All these facilities come at a price. The standard joining fee is a one-time, non-refundable deposit of Rs five lakhs, and an annual fee of Rs one-and-a-half lakhs. What you spend on food and drinks is extra. The fee gives you access to this space and its facilities, two of The Quorum’s other clubs in Gurgaon and Mumbai, and 75+ clubs across 28 countries it has associated with. Though there are other membership tiers — for entrepreneurs, women, and those who fit the profile and are under 30 — the one-time fee has been waived off.

Offices of tomorrow

Vivek, who has in the past worked with leading hospitality brands, has also set up his second flagship brand called district150. Elaborating on the brand’s name and idea, he says, “According to Robin Dunbar, an anthropologist from Oxford University, 150 is the total number of stable, meaningful relationships a person can have in their life. That is why cavalries have only 150 members, and a human being can remember a maximum of 1500 faces and 500 names. With this narrative in mind, I set up district150 which is a meetings and events venue driven by hospitality and is a space built with the future of work and lifestyle in mind. It’s an amenity for the office building of tomorrow which can add significant value as a venue for corporate meetings and events during business hours and as a social venue after working hours.” It is a cross between an office and a hotel and you can host meetings and events here; there is also a progressive Indian casual dining restaurant called Zila. The brand has partnered with Subko, for their artisanal coffee and chocolate experience.

In the past, Vivek has headed development for Fairmont Raffles Hotels International and was responsible for the group’s growth and expansion efforts across South Asia. He has been a board member of SUJAN Rajmahal Palace and was instrumental in repositioning this marquee boutique heritage-palace hotel, part of the prestigious Relais & Chateaux collection, as one of the top luxury hotels in the world. He is a founding member and events and programming Chair of ULI (Urban Land Institute), India. He is currently also involved with Changemakers of Gurgaon at Scale, an organisation working towards making Gurgaon a more vibrant and sustainable city that figures among the top 50 cities of the world.

With his larger goal of making an impact while remaining a profitable business, Vivek plans to expand to other cities like Delhi, Bengaluru and Goa. This, despite fighting the constant challenge he faces as a first-time entrepreneur – that of attracting and retaining the right talent. Still, he stays committed to his goal of establishing a brand with high credibility that slowly brings change into the way we conduct business or hold conversations.

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