The Winter Soirée · Six Figured Females

The Venue

Older than the Christmas tree, the card and the cracker.

In 1707, a footman to Queen Anne named William Fortnum began selling on the palace's half-used candle ends. He went into business with his landlord, Hugh Mason. What started as a modest grocer on St James's Market became one of the most recognisable shops in the world.

Almost everything we now think of as Christmas (the decorated tree, the greetings card, the cracker) arrived in the 1840s. Fortnum's was well over a century old by then. Its hampers went to Waterloo, to Florence Nightingale in the Crimea, and up Everest in 1922; in the First World War, families sent Christmas hampers from Piccadilly to the trenches. The windows on that corner are, for a great many people, the moment December properly begins.

On the 1st of December, we have the bar on the third floor to ourselves: the 3’6 Bar, named for the three shillings and sixpence a guest cost at a Fortnum's cocktail party in the 1930s. Low light, soft music and a bar that knows exactly what it's doing.

The Afternoon

Twelve until four, from the moment you arrive.

No name badges. No speed rounds. Four hours built around good drinks, live piano, real conversation and one very good fireside chat.

12.00

A glass, on arrival

Sparkling wine (or something equally good without the alcohol) the moment you walk in, and a pianist already playing as you come through the door. The room is yours before the rest of Piccadilly has thought about lunch.

12.30

Canapés, and your drinks token

Canapés served through the afternoon, plus a token for a second drink of your choosing at the bar. Cocktail, wine, something soft - your call. From here until quarter to three the afternoon is unstructured on purpose — drinks, canapés, piano and conversation, with nowhere you have to be.

2.45until 3.30

The fireside chat, and your questions with Charlene Douglas, Relationship and Intimacy Coach, as seen on E4’s Married at First Sight UK

Successful in Business, Thriving in Life: Taking Care of the Woman Behind the Business

The business is rarely the only thing you’re carrying. Charlene will talk about the rest of it: relationships, parenting, dating, divorce, caring for parents, big life changes and finding any space for yourself. Christmas can turn the volume up on all of it, and she’ll speak to that too.

4.00

Something to take home

The half-hour after the chat is yours again — the conversations it started, carried on over what’s left of your drink. We wrap up at four, with something chosen for the room handed to you on your way out.

Charlene Douglas, psychosexual therapist, relationship expert and intimacy coach

The Fireside Chat

Charlene Douglas takes the fireside chair.

Charlene Douglas is a UK-based psychosexual therapist, relationship expert, and intimacy coach best known for appearing on E4’s Married at First Sight UK. Based in London and Essex, Charlene works with individuals and couples across the UK and internationally, helping them strengthen emotional connection, improve communication, and rebuild intimacy in their relationships.

Through her work as a therapist, speaker, and media commentator, she specialises in supporting people navigating intimacy challenges, loss of sexual desire, relationship conflict, dating patterns, and healing after break-ups. Charlene combines psychodynamic counselling, relationship psychology, and psychosexual therapy to help clients better understand the emotional patterns that shape their relationships and develop healthier, more fulfilling ways of connecting. Alongside her clinical work, Charlene is widely recognised as a trusted voice in the media on topics including modern dating, intimacy, sexual wellbeing, and relationship dynamics.

Fireside chat and your questions · 2.45 until 3.30

Arriving

The whole building becomes an advent calendar.

Every December the façade on Piccadilly is lit up and numbered, one to twenty-five, and people stop in the road to look at it. This is what you'll walk past on your way in.

Come a little early, or stay on afterwards. Either way, don't get the tube straight home.

181 Piccadilly · Green Park & Piccadilly Circus

The Room

Curated, not crowded.

Every woman in this room will have been invited. The list is not open, the doors are not wide, and the capacity of the 3’6 Bar decides the rest. That is the entire point. The quality of a room is set by who is standing in it.

◆Six-figure founders who understand your world
◆Established business owners with experience worth having
◆Collaborators genuinely looking to connect
◆Decision-makers worth knowing before January
◆Women who think bigger — and expect you to as well

What this isn't.

✕Pitching from a stage
✕Transactional, desperate energy
✕Name badges and awkward introductions
✕Two hundred people and a queue at the bar
✕A corporate Christmas party with a buffet

Your Member Advantage

The room is open. Your price is still the best in it.

Booking opened to non-members on 15 September, so places now go to whoever books first. Early bird has now closed. Members pay £175. Everyone else is paying £225.

Now Open

Open to everyone since 15 September

The members-only fortnight has finished and nothing is held back for members now. Places go in the order people book.

Member Rate

£175 a place

Non-members pay £225 for the same afternoon.

Bring a Bestie

Your business bestie, same price

Bring one guest at your member rate: £50 off her ticket as well. She gets your price. You get your person.

Secure Your Place

One afternoon. One room. Then it's January.

Seventy places in the 3’6 Bar. Once they're gone, this page closes — there's no waitlist and no second release.

Places remaining 6 of 70

More than four in five have already gone.

Members & Business Besties

Member Rate

£175 Per place

Bring one business bestie at the same £175 rate.

◆Exclusive access to the 3’6 Bar at Fortnum & Mason
◆Sparkling wine on arrival (or a non-alcoholic equivalent)
◆Drinks token for a second drink of your choosing
◆Canapés through the afternoon
◆A pianist playing live from noon until quarter to three
◆A fireside chat, your questions included
◆Something to take home
◆Four hours with a vetted, curated room

What the room costs everyone else

Non-member rate £225

Your rate as a member £175

You save £50 per ticket

Bring your business bestie at £175 as well and that's £100 back on the two of you.

Reserve at £175

Everything Included

What you're saying yes to.

The Room, To Ourselves

The 3’6 Bar held for us for the afternoon — not a table booked in a busy bar, the whole room.

Sparkling Welcome

A glass of sparkling wine as you arrive, or an equally good alcohol-free alternative.

Your Drinks Token

A token for a second drink, chosen by you at the bar. Cocktail, wine, or something soft.

Canapés

Served through the afternoon.

Live Piano

Playing from noon — from your first glass through to the guest speaker.

The Fireside Chat

Forty-five minutes of honest, unscripted conversation with a guest worth clearing your afternoon for, questions from the room included.

Something To Take Home

Not a goody bag. Something chosen for the room, and worth keeping.

Four Hours of the Room

Twelve until four with a curated group of established female founders.

A Vetted Guest List

Invitation-only. Every name checked. No exceptions, however late the request.

Piccadilly at Christmas

You're a two-minute walk from Green Park and the best Christmas windows in London.

Details

Your questions, answered.

What's the dress code?

Festive, elevated, London in December. Velvet, tailoring, a good coat, something that catches the light. Not black-tie, and not the office. Dress like you're going somewhere worth photographing — because you are.

Where exactly is it?

The 3’6 Bar on the third floor of Fortnum & Mason, 181 Piccadilly, London W1A 1ER. Green Park and Piccadilly Circus are both a short walk. We strongly recommend public transport — parking in St James's is limited and expensive.

Can I bring a guest?

Yes. As a member you may bring one business bestie at the same £175 member rate — the same afternoon a non-member pays £175 for. She should be someone you'd genuinely vouch for in a room of this calibre. Simply add a second ticket at checkout.

What's included in the ticket price?

Exclusive access to the 3’6 Bar, a glass of sparkling wine on arrival, a drinks token for a second drink of your choosing, canapés through the afternoon, a pianist from noon until quarter to three, the fireside chat, a gift to take home, and four hours with a curated room.

Will there be music?

Yes — a pianist, live, from noon until quarter to three. Pitched so the room sounds like December in Piccadilly, and still low enough that you never have to raise your voice to be heard. The piano finishes as the guest speaker begins at quarter to three.

Is this actually a networking event?

Not in the traditional sense. No pitches, no speed rounds, no badges with your elevator pitch printed on them. It's a connection-led afternoon, built around the conversations that happen when the right women are in the right room.

How many places are there?

Seventy, and we won't stretch it to squeeze anyone in — the point is the quality of the room, not the size of it. Booking is open to everyone now, and 6 places are left.

I have dietary requirements or allergies.

Please add them at checkout. Fortnum's need advance notice to cater properly, so don't skip this step if it applies to you.

What's the refund policy?

Due to venue and catering commitments, tickets are non-refundable. You may transfer your place to another eligible guest with prior approval — just get in touch before the day.

One Last Thing

The women who hesitate miss the room entirely.

The capacity is set. The room is curated. If you want to be standing in Fortnum & Mason with a glass in your hand on the 1st of December, the only thing left to do is book it.

Secure My Place — £175