Written by Remi James

When I think of the Mayfair Collective, one image instantly comes to my mind: The Black Amex card. Coveted, quietly powerful, and firmly out of reach for most, not because of money, but because of invitation. Much like that card, the Mayfair Collective isn’t about flashing status; it’s about what happens once you are actually inside the room.

Having attended several Mayfair Collective events, I first expected to find a “stiff upper lip” environment, a room of affluent individuals shouting their success from the rooftops. What surprised me most, however, was how open, warm, and refreshingly human everyone was. This was a room full of seriously accomplished people who had somehow left their egos at the door. No peacocking. No performative networking. Just genuine conversation, curiosity, and connection.

The Mayfair Collective Christmas Gala, in particular, is practically tattooed into members’ diaries from the start of the year, a non-negotiable, must-attend moment. The December 2025 gala selected The Change Foundation as its chosen charity. After hearing from their new CEO, Nav Sira, it was immediately clear why founders Alexei Cantacuzene-Speransky and Siv Sivasamy felt such a profound alignment.

The Change Foundation is an award-winning charity using sport to transform the lives of marginalised young people. Through long-term, targeted interventions led by coach-mentors with lived experience, they provide regular sport, personalised mentoring, and pathways into work. In over 45 years, the foundation has supported more than 275,000 young people across 34 UK cities and 39 countries worldwide—numbers that are as impressive as the human impact behind them.

The Change foundation was introduced to Siv and Alexei by ambassador Will Tabourn, and the synergy was immediate. Shared values, shared ethics, and a shared sense of humanity. As Siv and Alexei put it, their ball is simply “a great party where people do good while having a good time.”

Naturally, I wanted to understand how such an exclusive, values-led community was born.

Siv and Alexei’s first meeting feels fittingly organic. In July 2016, Siv hosted a gathering in the garden of the House of St Barnabas. A friend suggested inviting Alexei, who was exploring a similar concept. Siv agreed believing that “the more, the merrier.”

Their first impressions? Mixed. Siv admits he wasn’t entirely sure about Alexei at first—describing him as “very loud and very confident.” However, over nine years, the two have grown together, shaped each other, and built a friendship grounded in kindness and a mutual desire to protect others.

Alexei reflects candidly on that meeting as a turning point. He realised he had been trying too hard to be the person he thought “leadership” required. Watching Siv quietly listen, rather than dominate, shifted his understanding of influence. What he mistook for shyness was actually strength an ability to create space for others. That realisation became foundational to the Mayfair Collective’s ethos.

The Mayfair Collective has had two incarnations: its original launch in 2016, and then its rebirth post-Covid in 2021. Siv recalls a lightbulb moment at a family office conference, noticing that a handful of people held the majority of the relationships in the room. He brought those people together, suggesting that something special might happen if they collaborated rather than competed.

Between 2016 and early 2020, they hosted 23 informal drinks events, welcoming hundreds of guests. Then Covid hit, and everything paused. In 2021, constrained by social distancing rules, Siv began hosting small lunches 60 in one year, which organically became the backbone of the community today.

Alexei adds an important layer: the Mayfair Collective wasn’t just about better events, but “better rooms.” Too many people, they felt, were “kissing frogs” in business attending events full of people they neither trusted nor liked. Their rule was simple: only invite people they genuinely liked. It seems obvious, perhaps, but it is rare in practice. The result is a non-threatening, deeply human environment one that naturally attracts a higher proportion of women and fosters genuine honesty.

One of the most striking aspects of the Mayfair Collective is that there is no membership fee and very little sponsorship. Members describe it simply as “community”—a word often overused, but here it is deeply felt. As Siv puts it, “How do you put a price on belonging?”

Alexei reframes the value entirely: it’s not about what members bring, but what the community can offer them. The ethos is clear: We, not me. Contribution over extraction.

Prospective members are carefully interviewed and must attend at least two lunches before being invited to join. They must work with ultra-high-net-worth individuals, be highly established, and well-connected but most importantly, they must be kind. Even then, membership isn’t guaranteed forever. Behaviour matters. Trust is everything.

I wanted to know what makes the Mayfair Collective different, and both founders answer without hesitation: kindness. Members show up for one another, often in deeply personal ways unrelated to work. The most memorable moments aren’t the grand events, but the quiet conversations, the texts saying “I feel lighter” or the tears shed after finally being truly “seen.”

Alexei speaks movingly about checking in, asking the extra question, and truly listening. Community, here, means responsibility. Perhaps the best endorsement came from a member’s wife, who confessed she usually dreads charity galas…. yet left this one having made friends for life. As Alexei told her, that magic wasn’t created by two founders, but by an entire community.

Lovely people, after all, look after other lovely people! A sentiment I couldn’t agree with more.

 

For 2026, the Mayfair Collective will expand into the Middle East, creating a cultural bridge between communities. They will also launch The Register, an online directory connecting trusted advisers across various disciplines a practical extension of their collaborative philosophy.

As Mayfair Collective prepares for its next major milestone, I can only hope for another invitation to experience more of this wonderful community magic that Siv and Alexei have so beautifully created!

 

Photo Credits: Katya Browne

Website: www.mayfaircollective.co.uk

Instagram: @mayfair.collective