The Team

Zara Thomas

Zara started a Fulham business in 2020, opening its doors weeks before lockdown. Navigating the twists and turns of all that followed with her first child, and then the arrival of another bouncy boy, Zara decided 4 years later to close her café so she could spend more time with her family and pursue other passions and endeavours. Having met many locals including fellow business owners, artists, and brands she founded Fulham Social Hub to continue what she started at Zara’s - at The Palace.

Zara is originally from Transylvania, Cluj - Romania, and was first introduced to the hospitality industry when she was very young while helping her father, a nightclub and restaurant owner. Zara moved to London more than a decade ago, to continue pursuing her law career. Still, instead of pushing that more, she fell in love with the hospitality industry again. The love for wine-making made her become a sommelier. Meanwhile, the hospitality industry was booming in London and she discovered a diverse side that she never really experienced in Cluj. What she still loves today: a good, meaningful chat, networking, exchanging stories, and helping people - so naturally everywhere she worked created a community around her!

After having quite a vast portfolio of managerial roles and operations in different parts of East, SW, and Central London plus running her own award-winning business and Events (Pop-Ups and a Wellness Hub) in Fulham, Zara fell in love with helping other entrepreneurs elevate their business; Having the right contacts and using her creative side she beautifully merges her portfolio of brands together creating magic; this all made Zara love what she is doing today: Executive Business Development & Strategy for other businesses.

Melinda Shelbourne

Melinda is a long-term Fulham resident who after the demise of local print media and online SW6 platforms being predominantly dedicated to news, created Urban Village LDN. This monthly online magazine & website was designed to support all the inspirational stories that were playing out locally but were seemingly hard for residents to find. Urban Village LDN launched in 2019 letting Fulhamites know what’s on, new & happening every month, and has since grown a solid and loyal fanbase. The website came into its own during adversity, as everything ground to a halt or shut down, it could be easily & quickly adapted to keep locals informed of who was doing/ providing what and how they could help “support local”. Melinda is a co-founder of Fulham Social Hub building on her support of all things SW6.

Melinda started her career in advertising at JWT London, aged 19, working in the PR / New Business Department, going on to become the agency’s press officer. Thriving in this role; promoting the agency, their creative work, research, and building and maintaining key media contacts, Melinda moved into public relations and found a new love of event and project management which she continues to be involved in today as well as helping clients grow their brands, profiles and business.

Melinda has worked across a range of categories including fashion, FMCG, interior design, product design, art, and retail for companies including Lynne Franks PR, Business Design Centre, The Rowland Company, Good Technology, Bryan Morel PR, and clients including The British Fashion Council (London Fashion Week/ British Fashion Awards), Harvey Nichols, Diageo  (Smirnoff International Fashion Awards) and the Rainforest Foundation UK.