Need to Know
31 : 03 : 22

London – After three years of refurbishment, Koko, the storied concert venue in the heart of Camden, is re-opening as an exclusive, music-centric members’ club.

The extensive restoration of the property, originally built in 1900, aims to convert the building into a ‘state-of-the-art live music venue spanning 50,000 square feet, with ambitions to deliver an unrivalled experience for live music fans’, explains the press release. New amenities in the club include a roof terrace, library, restaurant, cocktail bar and secret vinyl rooms.

Members of the club will also enjoy unique access to the venue's cultural events, including backstage candle-lit dinners, exclusive admission to the Fly Tower, which offers unrivalled views of the stage, and a secret stairway that allows members to join the crowds if desired. With a recording studio and piano room, the club strives to appeal to music fans and professionals alike.

By using its cultural reputation and existing contacts with musicians, House of Koko represents a fresh direction for the Members’ Club Market. Providing intimate access to the behind-the-scenes of the music industry, it takes hobby-centric hospitality to the next level.

Stockholm – With growing awareness and appreciation of the skin’s microbiome and its overall effect on health, Kind to Biome is a new quality mark and testing service that ensures skincare and ingredients are gentle on the microbiome as a baseline standard.

Working closely with science-backed skincare and cosmetics brands, Kind to Biome will assess how individual ingredients and formulas influence the skin’s microbiome – the protective layer of micro-organisms and bacteria that live on the skin. It has developed a test with Dr Vangelis Beletsiotis, head biologist at QACS laboratories, to make product assessments more accessible, fast and inexpensive for brands. This test examines how gentle a product is on the microbiome in four phases, using an algorithm to score whether a product can be rewarded the Kind to Biome mark.

Following the pandemic, the emergence of initiatives such as Kind to Biome helps to frame bacteria in a positive light, tapping into skincare and products that bolster Recuperation Rituals, while emphasising how the microbiome supports holistic health.

According to a new study of the alcoholic drinks industry, only 10% of women respondents have seen significant positive change towards women in in the industry over the past five years.

To examine the roles of women at alcohol manufacturers, wholesalers, retail companies and distributors, Deloitte and inclusivity organisation Women of the Vine & Spirits ran two surveys about diversity, equality and inclusion goals. When asked whether they have seen positive changes in the alcoholic beverage industry’s attitudes towards women in the past five years, the majority (52%) said there was only ‘some’ positive change.

Among the issues keeping people from pursuing a career in the alcoholic drinks industry, 60% of respondents cited a lack of diversity, equity and inclusion, followed by a lack of work-life balance (45%) and a lack of exposure to career opportunities (40%).

Looking to the future, brands and organisations in the alcohol sector must think and act intersectionally in order to reduce barriers to entry and change attitudes in the industry.