What crisis? Bankers spend £1m on a kitchen
The world economy is facing recession, thousands of staff in the securities industry are facing redundancy, but some investment bankers are still finding time to worry about spending up to £1m (€1.2m) renovating their kitchen.
While most bankers will feel lucky to get a bonus at all this year, the chief operating officer of one investment bank and head of Asia at another are among a group of wealthy clients who have had their kitchens redesigned by an award-winning British designer who uses what he calls “neuroscience” to create a domestic utopia tailored to their personality.
The chief operating officer, who insisted on anonymity when contacted by Financial News, is paying £500,000 for his kitchen, which has a large stiletto heel-shaped sculpture incorporated into the food bar.
The banker who runs the Asian division of his bank is understood to have spent up to £1m on having a state-of-the-art kitchen, and other rooms in his house designed and built from scratch by designer Johnny Grey, although Grey said both bankers agreed contracts before the financial crisis set in.
He said that at the moment he is working with clients to try to reduce costs, in light of the looming recession.
Grey, whose kitchens range in price from £75,000 to more than £1m including building costs, and who spends time getting to know his clients before constructing their kitchen in tune with their personality or passions, has attracted a queue of wealthy clients despite the turndown.
He and his team spend up to 80 hours with his clients in order to understand what makes them tick, often going round for dinner and staying the night at their home.
One of Grey’s clients, who has a family of six and works at a Swiss bank, recently had the kitchen of his home near London renovated. He said: “We spend more of our time in the kitchen than anywhere else in the house, and we liked the idea of having a space that was extremely functional but also reflective of our personal needs and tastes as a family.”
He said the marbled kitchen is reasonably plain, apart from a large round storage drum painted with all the varieties of wildlife found in the family’s garden.
Grey said combining design with psychology and neuroscience would always produce a more satisfactory result than the stereotypical fitted kitchen which has become de rigeur in many homes. He said: “We act as a mirror – we hold up ideas that might have been lurking in their heads anyway and bring them to the surface.”
The British designer also has a number of celebrities on his books, including the singer Sting, Steve Jobs of Apple and publisher Felix Dennis.
Grey says many of his clients ask him to do their bedroom or bathrooms after they see their kitchen. Ron Baker, director of London-based venture capital firm Arkbe, had his office created last year by Grey for £175,000 after having his kitchen done 10 years ago. Baker works extensively with the steel industry and the office reflects that – the table legs in the boardroom are melded from twisted stainless steel.
He said: “Johnny’s designs are completely unique and incredibly aesthetically pleasing, so his business should weather the financial crisis well. People have lost money but he will always have clients who will recommend him to friends, and satisfied customers like myself who come back for more rooms.”
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