Walpole launches the 2026/2027 Book of British Luxury at Hotel Café Royal on Monday 14 September 2026, from six until half past nine.
Walpole began in 1990 as the Churchill Group, put together by British Airways, Coutts, DAKS Simpson and the Savoy Group among others to promote British excellence abroad. It took its present name in 1992, after Robert Walpole, the man generally counted as the first British prime minister, and it now speaks for 270 British brands including Rolls-Royce, Burberry, Claridge’s and Harrods. The sector it represents was valued at £48 billion to the British economy in 2019.
The Book of British Luxury is the annual survey Walpole publishes of the houses it represents, and the launch is the evening those houses turn out for. It is a trade room rather than a public one, which is precisely what makes it worth attending: the people in it are the chairs, creative directors and chief executives of the British luxury industry, in one place, once a year. Walpole has held an awards ceremony since 2001 and this is its companion evening.
The 2026/2027 edition launches at Hotel Café Royal on Monday 14 September 2026, from six until half past nine. Places are limited by the room and taken by RSVP. The Café Royal opened in 1865 as a wine store and restaurant and stands where Mayfair, Soho and St James’s meet, which is roughly the footprint of the trade inside it. Walpole itself is a membership body rather than a promoter, so the guest list is its own.