News

Feb 24, 2025

FirstLuxe, A Lifestyle Manager To U.K. Premier League Soccer Stars, Adds Middle East Royals

Former soccer player Calaum Jahraldo-Martin has reinvented himself in lifestyle management. It hasn’t taken long for former Hull City soccer player Calaum Jahraldo-Martin to grow the seeds of an idea

Former soccer player Calaum Jahraldo-Martin has reinvented himself in lifestyle management.

It hasn’t taken long for former Hull City soccer player Calaum Jahraldo-Martin to grow the seeds of an idea for a luxury lifestyle management service into a fully fledged business called FirstLuxe.

Together with co-founder Steven Haziza Metta, an old school friend, the entrepreneurs have built up a niche client list by offering services from hotel bookings and event tickets, to private jet and yacht charters, not to mention more routine services like personal shopping.

But the business, started in late 2018, is now at a crossroads. The chief membership base was recruited in the United Kingdom through Jahraldo-Martin’s closely-guarded contacts list of soccer stars in the English Premier League, wholly owned by its 20 member clubs. However, the business has widened the net to include a growing number of Middle East royals.

Forbes’ most recent 2024 soccer team valuations put six of those 20 English clubs in the global top 10, with Manchester United in second place (after Real Madrid), Liverpool in fourth, and Manchester City, fifth. Jahraldo-Martin’s soccer connections have therefore been a perfect platform on which to build FirstLuxe and it counts at least 30 Premier League stars as clients.

The FirstLuxe team (clockwise from top left): Natalie Clarke, executive assistant and personal ... [+] shopper; Aaron Ofori-Atta, content curator; Jamaal Radway, head of sports and entertainment; and Calaum Jahraldo-Martin, co-founder.

Having seen double-digit growth in membership since 2018, though absolute numbers are yet to break into triple digits, the former midfielder has his eyes on a bigger prize. He wants to take the business into a more international arena by breaking out of Britain into other regions. The Middle East is now a major focus, and the United States a future prospect.

This makes sense. Forbes is preeminent in tracking the world’s richest billionaires, but in the post-pandemic era, there is also a burgeoning pool of millionaires who can be tapped for concierge services. According to the UBS Global Wealth Report 2024, the number of millionaires is on track to keep growing in the 56 markets analyzed by the bank. The U.S. had the highest number at nearly 22 million people (or 38% of the total) in 2023.

FirstLuxe is not necessarily looking for customers with seven-digit bank balances. Jahraldo-Martin, who will turn 32 in April, claims that while his company makes some very high-end bookings for vacation villas and exclusive off-diary events, clients can just as easily ask for low-cost carrier flights or for discounts at top hotels.

Membership fees started at £1,000 a year when the company launched but are now around £6,000, or about $7,600 (plus 20% VAT) per person, with family memberships set at £60,000 ($75,800)—so wealth helps. The business was profitable “almost from day one” according to the former footballer who has Antiguan-English ancestry and has played as an international for Antigua & Barbuda. He is now eager to expand the client list, but not too much.

“We’re not looking for a membership in the thousands. We’d rather have the right people and keep it below about 250,” he told me. That’s enough to keep it exclusive and still make it a personal proposition. FirstLuxe’s reputation is tied to developing tailored services and its ability to meet every member in person during a typical year.

To date, the client membership list breaks down as follows: 40% athletes like Premier League footballers and Olympic runners, including Jamaica’s Usain Bolt; 30% Middle Eastern business people including regional royals, and 30% corporate clients consisting of travel agencies and five-star hotels that outsource their concierge services.

Members have their own dedicated WhatsApp group through which all their demands are met via FirstLuxe’s team, with one staff member dedicated solely to personal shopping.

Shopping is important—“we get requests for Hermès Birkins, the latest fashion look-books, and limited edition items”—but it is not nearly as big as components like bookings for villas and hotels, or event reservations. On the travel front, private airport services are another growing area.

FirstLuxe has just partnered with London’s Heathrow Airport which, this month, opened its upgraded private suite called The Windsor. The VIP offer includes chauffeurs direct from home to plane, all airport formalities taken care of, a discreet butler service, exclusive dishes from Michelin-starred chef Jason Atherton, and a personal shopper service—for slightly more than $4,800 (including VAT) for up to three guests. FirstLuxe expects to get a better rate for its clients.

Heathrow Airport's new 'The Windsor' service has just launched and is in the sights of FirstLuxe for ... [+] its clients.

A differentiator from other lifestyle management service providers is that the business also deals with property investments, arranges private banking and private credit, and will even buy art on behalf of clients. “These things separate us from competitors and show our highly personalized approach,” said Jahraldo-Martin.

The company sends out a regular newsletter covering everything that is coming up in terms of prestigious events, shows, and new openings each month. It has its strongest feelers on the ground in London, Paris and Dubai, plus ‘getaway’ destinations like Courchevel and Mykonos, using third parties to facilitate everything from Formula 1 tickets to ski chalets.

“We are a one-stop shop. Clients don’t need to go to a travel agent, a ticket partner, or message hotels for reservations,” said Jahraldo-Martin. “We have all the expertise and contacts. Time is of the essence in these people’s lives and they trust us to deliver.”

That trust is essential to the business. While we are talking, Jahraldo-Martin gets a client message request for a private jet from London to Dubai and he jumps to attention just as you might expect a hands-on owner-entrepreneur to do.

External investment has yet to be brought in and, so far, the co-founder doesn’t think it will be needed. “The business is growing comfortably and it hangs on relationships and making the right contacts and connections. We will be careful how we expand and who we bring in,” he said.

FirstLuxe seems to have made a good call targeting the Middle East with its lifestyle services. As wealth concentrated into fewer hands during the pandemic, places like the United Arab Emirates, for example, with its low-to-no-tax set-up became a popular refuge. In 2024, the UAE was the top destination for the global rich according to the Henley Private Wealth Migration Report 2024. Last year, approximately 6,700 millionaires joined an estimated 200,000+ that have already made the country their home.