Who is Lulu Lytle? Meet designer behind Boris Johnson’s £200,000 Downing Street refurb

Lulu Lytle wasn’t well known before the news that she was chosen by The Prime Minister and his wife Carrie Johnson to renovate their Downing Street flat.

In April 2021, it was reported that the Prime Minister spent an estimated £200,000 to revamp his flat at No.11 Downing Street with interior designer Lulu Lytle behind the refurbishment.

After ITV News reported that No 10 staff had “gathered briefly” to mark Boris Johnson’s birthday in June 2020, Lulu said that she was at Downing Street waiting to undertake work at the time.

So, who is she? Here’s everything you need to know about her.
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Why is Lulu Lytle in the news?

As reported by Sky News, a group of staff working at Downing Street “briefly” got together to mark the Prime Minister’s birthday on June 19th, 2020.

“A group of staff working in Number 10 that day gathered briefly in the Cabinet Room after a meeting to wish the prime minister a happy birthday. He was there for less than 10 minutes,” a No 10 spokesperson said.

As reported by National World, Lulu Lytle said that she was “present in Downing Street on June 19 working on the refurbishment” of the PM’s flat.

“Lulu was not invited to any birthday celebrations for the Prime Minister as a guest,” a spokeswoman for the interior designer said.

“Lulu entered the Cabinet Room briefly as requested, while waiting to speak with the Prime Minister.”

Lulu Lytle is the co-founder and director of Soane Britain, a company that “designs and makes furniture, upholstery, lighting, fabrics, wallpapers and interior necessities”, as per the Soane website.

The 49-year-old was born in Worcestershire and studied Egyptology at University College London.

Then, she worked in antiques for a few years before founding Soane Britain, at 25 years old.

Soane Britain is a luxury company based in Pimlico Street, London, that designs and produces furniture.

Every item they create is handcrafted by traditional craftsmen in Britain using only the best quality materials, and Soane furniture can be found in many hotels, restaurants, houses and yachts around the world.

Before founding Soane, Lulu set off on a road-trip around Britain to find talented craftsmen practising traditional skills, such as blacksmiths, cabinet-makers, saddlers, upholsterers and stone carvers, to work with.

Soane advertise their designs on Instagram where they have accumulated almost 100,000 followers.

Their products are stocked in a number of retailers and can also be bought on their official website.

Aside from her life as a designer, Lulu is married to Charles Patrick St John Lytle, who is a senior investment banker at Goldman Sachs.

The pair have three teenage children together and they live in a £4 million house near Hyde Park.

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