To be sure, private clubs, often aimed at primarily at men, have been a business staple in cities like London and New York for more than a century. Historically these clubs were solely for socialising, not for conducting business. “The premise of a traditional social club was developed in a time when life and work never crossed,” said NeueHouse founder James O’Reilly.

And, while the trendy private member club concept is not new — think Soho House in the 1990s — many of the newest clubs like NeueHouse, which opened in New York in 2013, are putting a bigger focus on co-working and allowing members to spend hours there, not just the ability to pop-in for a quick business lunch and enjoy the scene.

In fact, some established clubs are also getting in on the act. In the past few years, Soho House has opened clubs in cities such as Chicago, Toronto, Istanbul and Berlin and it is also adding a secondary SohoWorks concept to its offering to put a new focus on co-working.

Exclusivity at a price

The newest clubs cater to members interested in combining work with play, who want to customise their own experience and casually interact with other like-minded members, said O'Reilly. “Great work is inherently social,” he said. But unlike normal co-working spaces, membership to these clubs is exclusive and prospective joiners learn about them through word of mouth.