Brigadier Johnny Rickett
Brigadier Johnny
Rickett
The Prince of Wales laid the foundation stone of the Union
Jack Club in July 1904 and, later as King Edward VII accompanied by Queen
Alexandra, officially opened the Club in July 1907. Since then around 15 and a
half million people have stayed here (the 15 millionth guest was recorded on
The idea in creating this wonderful Club came from a
courageous and resourceful lady called Ethel McCaul, a
Royal Red Cross nurse, who was serving in Field Hospitals during the South
African War at the turn of the 20th Century. She was adamant that
her brave soldiers and sailors should be shielded from the debauchery and
wickedness, which abounded in
Ethel McCaul was a very determined
lady, as her portrait hanging in the Club’s Reception Area portrays and she set
about fund raising with great zeal and energy. A residential club called the
Union Jack Club was to be built as a National Memorial to those who had fallen
in the South African War, as a haven for servicemen and their families. In
particular this was to be well run and reasonably priced, as members of the
Armed Forces in those days were extremely poorly paid. An Appeal for funds was
launched successfully by the Lord Mayor of
Fund raising began with concerts and entertainments;
meetings were held throughout the country, for it had to be known that, though
the Club was to be constructed in
An imposing building of Edwardian magnificence soon rose at No 91 Waterloo Road, which was completed towards the end of 1904. At that time the Club contained 208 bedrooms and extensive public rooms. Further additions, including the establishment of a separate Families Club, were made before and after the First World War, so that by 1939 the Club contained a total of 800 beds.
The Club naturally found itself in great demand during both World Wars and its resources were fully stretched. Interestingly, for many years after the First World War an annual donation was sent anonymously to the Club. It appeared regularly and with each payment came a note with the words “In gratitude for a scrap of comfort”. After many years these payments ceased and the words of this anonymous donor are today commemorated by a marble plaque sited in the Reception Area. These poignant words perhaps sum up best the Union Jack Club’s tradition of service to those who serve our country.
During the Second World War the area around Waterloo Station was bombed severely and the Club itself was damaged. Referring to this period, the then Secretary of State for War said, “The Club carried on its work under the shadow of death of German bombs, but, like other institutions over which the Union Jack flies, it has survived and will always do so. From my flat in London I have looked out on most mornings over the past five years and have always been greatly encouraged to see it still standing four square, to a great deal besides all that the winds blow, and during that five years it has provided lodgings for more than a million servicemen, in addition to having catered for well over three million meals”.
By the end of the war there was not only bomb damage to be repaired, but the Club also required a large amount of refurbishment and another Appeal for funds was launched in 1945, again from the Mansion House. This carried the Club through the post-war years and into the late 1960s.
The Club building was now becoming increasingly expensive to maintain, while at the same time habits were changing. It was the swinging 60s and national standards of living were rising, together with people’s aspirations. The Club was in urgent need of modernisation of its amenities, its decor and the way it conducted its business; in short a great leap forward was required. It was therefore decided in 1970 to pull down the old Edwardian edifice and construct a completely new building in its place. The President of the Governing Council, Major General Sir Julian Gascoigne, managed to do a deal with Lord Sherfield, the Chairman of Industrial and Commercial Finance Corporation Ltd, now Investment in Industry (3i). They, (3i), would build three tower blocks on condition that they could lease one of them for a period of 125 years for a peppercorn rent; the remaining two tower blocks would constitute the new Club, thus combining under one roof the functions of the original Club and the Families Club. It follows from this that the Union Jack Club was now in a very strong position owning its own freehold, with the 3i’s block reverting back to it when the leasehold runs out.
Demolition work began in 1971 and the building contractors
moved in the following year. The Club opened for business in its new premises
on
As a result large quantities of money has had to be spent on upgrading the building since the middle of the 1980s. No en-suite accommodation then existed anywhere in the Club, there was a strict dividing line between the families and female guests on the one hand and male members on the other; never the twain should meet it seemed, as there were even two entrances in the front of the building to ensure that they entered separately! The latter anomaly was put right in 1996 when the Reception Area was remodelled. Modernisation is continuing apace and the aim is that all bedroom accommodation should be en-suite eventually; however as each floor costs around £400,000 to convert, progress is necessarily slow!
The period between the mid 70s and 80s was a challenging and
difficult time for the Club. The size of the Armed Forces had been reduced
drastically owing to the Government’s policy of having withdrawn from its role
as a World Power and having only very few garrison commitments East of Suez;
thus there was a lesser number of service personnel passing through
At the end of 1981 the decision was taken to expand the scope of the Club by admitting serving and retired members of other Public Services and their families as Temporary Honorary Members. The doors were therefore opened to such bodies as the Police, the Fire and Ambulance Services, the Merchant Navy, HM Coastguards, the Prison Service, the Civil Service and other groups sponsored by reputable organisations. They could use the full facilities of the Club provided they stayed overnight. The most important result of the new policy was an agreement with the Metropolitan Police to accommodate a number of their single officers on a permanent basis. Their numbers rose substantially until at their zenith six complete floors were eventually occupied.
In 1984 the Metropolitan Police were obliged to terminate their agreement and finally withdrew in May, leaving the Club to face a substantial drop of revenue. It was decided to set up a special committee to deal with what was fast becoming a serious financial crisis. This was to be known as “The Way Ahead Committee” under the chairmanship of Vice Admiral Sir Ian McIntosh, later President of the Club from 1986 to December 2001 and who is now our Patron.
The start of the en-suite bedroom programme dates from the findings of this Committee, together with the important decision that Commissioned Officers could now use the Club, albeit in a segregated form with specially allocated sleeping accommodation. The members of the Club however objected to sharing the restaurant and bar with them and this gave rise to the introduction of the Reserved Bar and the Reserved Dining Room, both of which by now were being used by everyone regardless of sex. From 1994 full integration into all the areas of the Club gradually took place and the Reserved Bar is used as a function room, while the Reserved Dining Room has merged into the members dining room. None of these changes have affected the position and rights of our serving personnel below commissioned rank, who all continue to enjoy automatic membership of the Club without payment of any entrance fee or annual subscription.
The conversion of the first eight floors to en-suite accommodation was completed by 1990 with the aid of a major grant from the Nuffield Trust; this is commemorated with a plaque mounted on the 10th Floor. Completion of two more floors was achieved by May 1991, again with help from the Nuffield Trust and this programme has continued ever since at a fast pace. The 12th Floor has been named the Brigadier Ghika Floor, the Comptroller under whom this all started.
It is here interesting to note that two of the public rooms have been named after a past President and Vice President of the Council, one after a Comptroller and in 2002 the Dove Room was named after the first House Manager to be established as such, Mr Terry Dove BEM.
The Union Jack Club is a Charity but it is also an independent limited company, which has to pay its own way. In order to satisfy the Charity Commissioners that our charitable status hasn’t been breached, by allowing others to use the Club, who were not accounted for in the Club’s original charter, a Non Charitable Trading Company was established in 1998. This has its own Board of Directors, holds its own AGM and ensures that the money raised is covenanted regularly to the Charity. It is pertinent to note, that even before this Trading Company was first set up the number of Non Service personnel using the Club has remained fairly constant at around 33%.
It is always good to report that after 100 years the Union
Jack Club remains as popular and well used as it did when it was founded, and
with its high room occupancy, it is the envy of most other clubs and certainly
every hotel in central
The Union Jack Club is so well situated in the heart of