London’s Soho, reflects Sony Music boss Rob Stringer, has changed since his days as a cub A&R man spending boozy afternoons in now vanished bars and clubs.
We are meeting at Dean Street Townhouse, a restaurant opened by his friend and Soho House founder Nick Jones. It serves the sort of posh pub grub priced to slip under expenses limits for people who want to spend more time gossiping than thinking about their food orders.
Stringer remembers holding court with bands such as the Manic Street Preachers in the nearby, and similarly louche, Groucho Club during the often unsteady pomp of Cool Britannia in the 1990s. But his rock ’n’ roll days, like the old Soho, are long gone. We quickly establish that beers will not feature on today’s expenses, and Cokes are duly ordered.