This club says it’s luring members from ‘stuffy’ men-only rivals

The Mark Bouris-backed club has opened its second Sydney CBD venue. Now it wants to expand to Brisbane and Parramatta.

Lanolips chief executive Kirsten Carriol, a CUB member, and the club’s chief executive Daniel Hakim. Picture: John Feder

As some of Australia’s oldest and most influential business clubs cling to tradition, the Club of United Business has gone from strength to strength promoting an inclusive community for the next generation of entrepreneurs.

CUB, which has grown to over 1000 members, has just opened its second Sydney CBD clubhouse. It welcomes business owners of any age or gender.

The oldest club in the southern hemisphere, Sydney’s Australian Club, voted against allowing women to become members in June 2021.

CUB chief executive Daniel Hakim said this attitude had left the Australian Club, and similar institutions, out of touch with the country's businesses.

“These old clubs have shown they’re not interested in modernising, so the new generation of business owners, the people who are innovating, are coming to CUB,” he said.

“We’re the new generation of that leadership community, so it’s important to represent the modern face of business, and diversity is a key part of that.”

Around a third of CUB’s members are women, a number they say aligns with the current state of business ownership.

Yellow Brick Road executive chairman Mark Bouris is a part-owner of CUB. He says the business community must represent “the modern face” of Australia, “not the stuffy, exclusively men’s only clubs of the past.” “Leaders today want to collaborate and support each other, regardless of their background, gender or nationality. There is more power with diversity,” he said.

Lanolips chief executive Kirsten Carriol is one member of the club. “You see elitism everywhere in those old clubs, and there’s none of that at CUB, there’s no pretence,” she said.

“In my mind, these old boys’ clubs have been dead for a long time. There will always be those deals done under the table, but they aren’t the future of business in this country.”

Having set up one clubhouse in Melbourne and two in Sydney, CUB is set to open in Brisbane and Parramatta within the next year. “Ideally I want every entrepreneur in the country to be able to access a great network of people. We’ve got plans to keep expanding to make sure that happens,” Mr Hakim said.