We caught up with Guy Ivesha, the man behind the successful Mortimer House, a premium work and wellbeing destination in London’s Fitzrovia.
With a true passion for wellness, Guy Ivesha is the CEO of Maslow’s, a new work and lifestyle concept organisation which set up the members’ club Mortimer House, a premium work and wellbeing destination in London’s Fitzrovia. We caught up with him to talk about the importance of wellness and work/life balance in our busy modern day and age and how Mortimer House brings harmony to its members.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your background?
I was born into the hotel world as my father is a hotelier. I lived my entire life in and around hotels and restaurants. At a later stage and during an internship at the Mark Hotel in New York (formerly a Mandarin Oriental) I felt more and more attracted to exclusive hospitality. I always loved the buzz and the sense of community that working in this sector provided and I was driven to learn as much as I could about the industry. I have been fortunate enough to work on some really fascinating projects. My personal career highlights have been heading up the Acquisitions and Development division at PPHE Hotel Group, working on the redevelopment of the Plaza Hotel in New York and most notably setting up Maslow’s. I still have that same feeling of community and buzz that I felt at the beginning of my career when I walk into Mortimer House each morning and I am always motivated to find ways to enhance guests’ experience.
How did Mortimer House come about?
I saw a gap in the market for an entirely new hospitality-led destination–one that went far beyond a pure hotel or workspace model. Despite their numbers, co-working spaces only offer a basic level of service. Considering we spend most of our lives at work I wanted to create a positive environment where people could form professional and social bonds Abraham Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ was at the forefront our thinking when considering the design of Mortimer House, channelling Maslow’s fundamental idea that basic human needs are fairly simple yet crucial. We enlisted AvroKO, the renowned New York-based architects, to integrate Maslow’s theory into the design of Mortimer House; philosophical needs are met from the restaurant, Mortimer House Kitchen on the ground floor, followed by the desire for purpose with our private work studies on the first to fourth floors, belonging and esteem are met on the fifth floor and self-actualization can be experienced on our sixth floor where we hold our House Events and provide a beautiful meditation room.
One of the core philosophies of Mortimer House is work/life balance, how is this reflected in the business?
The aim is to harmonise our lives. Balancing always involves a compromise, harmony doesn’t. Our model is based on facilitating this harmony between the head and the heart, the professional and the personal, the business and the pleasure. The services, facilities and community we provide to our members encourage this way of living. Some of the services we provide include personal assistants, room service supplied from our restaurant, personal trainers, Pilates and yoga classes, a meditation room and an extensive programme of events. We are dedicated to providing a premium and personal service to members so they can spend more time at leisure.
Have you seen a change in recent years when it comes to work/life balance? Has wellness become more of a focus?
Advancements in technology have drastically sped up our pace of life. So many people are permanently attached to their mobiles meaning that they are never far away from that next important email or client phone call. It is at this point that we realise we need to take a step back and assess our work/life HARMONY – thankfully more and more people are recognising this modern crisis and are embracing wellness techniques and practices. At Mortimer House, we have adapted our space to enable people to live a more balanced life and we support our members in reaching self-actualisation through a series of wellness-orientated events, we even have an in-house life coach for members to work with.
What makes Mortimer House so unique for its membership?
I believe what makes us so unique is the hospitality angle. We put a lot of effort into design, service and community. We also offer five tiers of membership to appeal to the wide-ranging needs of our members. The club (£80) gives members access to communal floors and events on weekday evenings and weekends and weekend use of the gym. The Traveller (£250) enables unlocks the use of the communal floors, gym, meeting rooms and events five weekdays a month. The Resident (£500) gives you unlimited access to the communal floors, gym, meeting rooms and events and permission to use Mortimer House as a business address. The Home Bureau (from £1,000) gives the member a dedicated single serving workspace and complete unlimited access to the communal floors, gym, meeting rooms and events. Finally, The Home Studio (from £6,000 ) includes a dedicated team office ranging from 4-24 people and unlimited access to the communal floors, gym, meeting rooms and events. All prices excl. VAT (CLUB INC. VAT)
What are your methods for managing stress in your high-pressure roles?
Being around my family has always been vital to my stress management and I also really focus on nurturing my mental, physical and spiritual health- I practice what I preach! It’s also great that my office is now Mortimer House, it’s very difficult to be stressed when this is your workplace and you constantly interact with inspiring members.
Could you share any upcoming events you will host at Mortimer House in 2019 which reflects your commitment to wellbeing and work/life balance?
We have a packed year ahead! We are just coming towards the end of our January Wellness Season which featured Run Clubs with our in-house personal trainers, juice cleanses, meditation classes hosted by Anoushka from The Goddess Space, a CBD Oil Workshop and a Pilates event led by Lottie Murphy. In February we welcome Mal Harrison, The Director of the Center for Erotic Intelligence, who will be leading our Art of Seduction evening, just in time for Valentine’s Day.
37-41 Mortimer Street, London, W1T 3JH
Telephone: +44 (0) 207 139 4404
Email: be@mortimerhouse.com
