Mount Street Neighbourhood: Meet the Neighbours
9 September 2024
As part of the Mount Street Neighbourhood Arts Festival that will run from 7 to 12 October, a new Mount Street Neighbourhood campaign, Meet The Neighbours, shot by photographer Trisha Ward, will launch.
Here is a first look at this ongoing series that sets out to capture characters from the area and hear what they love about their neighbourhood, their neighbours and London as a creative international capital.
The first set of neighbours are: Carl Holness, Head Doorman, The Connaught; Caroline Rist, Priority Relations Manager, Mount St. Restaurant; Harvey Baker, Butcher, Farm Shop; Kimpal Patel, Store Manager, Marni; Laurence Davis, Owner, Sautter of Mount Street; and Vicki Sun, Gallery Associate, BDDW.
Carl Holness, Doorman, The Connaught
“I’ve been working as doorman at The Connaught for 14 years, and this Mayfair neighbourhood feels like home. Mount Street has a strong community in the centre of bustling London. Everyone knows each other and comes together to celebrate on multiple occasions throughout the year – I love being part of this extended family.
“I love working at The Connaught. The neighbours have always made me feel really welcome.”
Kimpal Patel, Store Manager, Marni
“An artistic atmosphere is part of what makes Mount Street so special – and why Marni fits in so well. Its proximity to green spaces, such as Mount Street Gardens, offers the perfect balance between urban living and nature. Its community-feel creates a unique and welcoming energy.”
Laurence Davis, Owner, Sautter
“Mount Street has always been a very special street. It started off as butchers, chemists and so on, and it’s reinvented itself into a place everyone wants to come to. It has beautiful retail, fashion, coffee, hotels, restaurants, our curiosity shop! It's just a great eclectic mix.
“London is the only capital in the whole of the world where you get a complete mixture of people: it’s very diverse, but more importantly, very friendly.”
Harvey Baker, Butcher, Farm Shop
“There is just such history in the neighbourhood. It’s so beautiful, architecturally. This building – Farm Shop – used to be the renowned and groundbreaking florist Constance Spry’s shop. Spry and Rosemary Hume, a cook for Le Cordon Bleu, invented coronation chicken in 1953 for the Queen’s coronation. So, of course, we do a coronation chicken sandwich here.
“The thing I like about my job is being in close proximity to such high-quality meat. I’ve been in butchery for 11 years now and the provenance has always been very important to me. Having our own farm – in Somerset – and the processes used by the farmers is, in my experience, unmatched.
“One of my top recommendations in the area is a really well poured pint of Guinness at The Audley Public House which I think could rival many of the Irish pubs in London! There is also the absolutely beautiful church in Mount Street Gardens: sometimes in my break I will just go and sit there and think. It’s stunning. It’s quite like a tardis – you wouldn’t really realise how big it is inside. It offers peace from the hustle and bustle of central London.”
Caroline Rist, Priority Relations Manager, Mount St. Restaurant
“The appeal to me of the Mount Street Neighbourhood is that it’s like a tiny village. It’s beautiful. Those of us who live and work here know each other. It’s quite an intimate community and we all help each other.
“The great thing about Mayfair is you can really do art, shopping and fine dining in a day. You can go to the Royal Academy, then see the latest exhibition at Hauser & Wirth on Savile Row, have a wander down Bond Street into Mount Street for some shopping, and of course finish off with dinner with friends and some more art at the Mount St. Restaurant.”
Vicki Sun, Gallery Associate, BDDW
“I love how the area of Mount Street really feels like a neighbourhood – everyone is very friendly and you are surrounded by Queen Anne revival buildings. There’s a level of craftsmanship here that is just exceptional, from established designers like Oscar de la Renta and traditional gorgeous bakeries like Marchesi 1824, to modern fashion like The Row.
“One of the great things about my job is that we get such a wonderful mix of international clients coming to see – often they’re staying at The Connaught. Either they’re really familiar with BDDW or they’ve seen something in the window that has intrigued them, so you really interact with people from all walks of life in this area.”
