Soho Estates, the London property group owned by the granddaughters of the late Paul Raymond, returned to a pre-tax profit of £62.3m in the year to 31 March 2026 after three years of losses, as revenues rose 4 per cent to a record £45.2m.
The figures are set out in the group’s annual report, part of the accounts filed with Companies House on Friday. The company made a pre-tax loss of £6m in the previous financial year.
The profit includes a £49m increase in the value of the group’s portfolio, which is now worth just under £1.2bn. The portfolio’s value had fallen in each of the three previous financial years.
No dividend was paid for the year despite the return to profit. In the previous year Fawn James and India Rose James, who own the business, received a £23.2m dividend.
In the annual report, Soho Estates said it had enjoyed “robust rental growth” and had benefited from a full year of income at Ilona Rose House, the office block that takes its name from the sisters’ middle names.
Rental income was also lifted by the opening of Market Place Food Hall in Leicester Square at Christmas last year. The G-A-Y bar closed in October 2025 and was replaced by another nightclub, called Coven.
“We’ve had a steady year, with rental growth supported by continued demand from a broad range of tenant types,” Fawn James, the chief executive, said.
“That diversity matters to us. Soho is an area with a vibrant mix of bars, restaurants and nightlife, shops, workplaces, and homes all alongside each other, and that diversity is a guiding principle in how we manage the portfolio.”
Soho Estates has submitted plans to develop a “large-format immersive visitor attraction”, called LSX, in the northeast corner of Leicester Square.
“It is a much bigger proposition for the business and reflects our confidence in Leicester Square as a destination, and in the potential to strengthen the experience economy in the West End,” James said.
The planning application went to Westminster City Council in July 2026 and covers around 50,000 sq ft of attraction space, according to the company’s website for the project. The website says the scheme would attract up to 1.9 million visitors a year and generate around £48m in net additional visitor spending, and that no final occupier has been selected.
The sisters inherited the business when Raymond died in 2008, aged 82. They have a net worth of £689m, according to this year’s Sunday Times Rich List.
Fawn James, 40, took over the day-to-day running of the business from her father, John James, last year. India Rose James, 34, is not involved with the business. The group is chaired by Steve Norris, the former Conservative MP.
Soho Estates owns hundreds of shops, bars and restaurants in London’s theatre district. Its properties include Ronnie Scott’s jazz club and Kettner’s restaurant and hotel.
The estate started with the Raymond Revuebar, a strip club. Raymond used its profits to buy the freehold to the building in 1960 for £14,000.
He bought other buildings nearby during a slump in property prices in the late 1970s. In 1977 it was reported that he was buying more than one freehold a week.
