The Presidents Club scandal in London has had widespread condemnation and appears to be a watershed moment for the British psyche.
The annual gathering of the UK’s fattest tomcats with the sole aim to get them oiled up on alcohol and encourage them to spend as much money as possible on a charity auction whilst surrounded by attractive females (paid to be there) has come to a crashing end after complaints that some female hostesses hired for the evening were subject to unwanted sexual advances.
The sensationalist stories that came out of the evening were reminiscent of a Roman orgy with fat rich men pawing over young innocent females. This version of events has been strongly denied but the damage has been done.
Anyone who has worked in the Ibiza, Las Vegas, Dubai, Miami, London, even Mallorca club/bar scene will know the scenario well. Rich (and usually older) men getting more and more inebriated and more and more suggestive while they are served with copious amounts of alcoholic beverages at a premium price.
So where’s the line in all this? The objective after all is relieving the paying guest of as much cash as possible in the least amount of time whilst giving them an experience to remember. In the Ibiza version the hosts and hostesses usually wear flattering or revealing clothing as a uniform and have a twinkle in their eye. The odd hand may slip somewhere it shouldn’t but they are professionals and are trained at not getting too emotional about this yet still making the the guests feel special so they can spend even more money and hopefully leave a big tip.
(Please note the above paragraph applies to both male and female – sometimes the girls can be far worse than the boys)
The key to all of this is employing the right person for the right job. VIP areas in Ibiza’s clubs are full of strong independent hosts and hostesses who know their job inside out and more importantly know how to lay down clear boundaries in a professional manner. Rather than being victims they are well paid professionals.
The Presidents Club recruiters obviously didn’t follow these guidelines hiring quantity over quality and therefore playing into the hands of the moralists who were rightly outraged at the stories that came out so playing directly into the hands of the tabloids.
Is this the end of lad culture? Of course it isn’t as long as everyone is fully aware of the situation and briefed accordingly with sufficient security in place. Make a suggestive comment to a VIP hostess in Ibiza and she will laugh it off, put your hand somewhere where it shouldn’t be and you’ll probably be escorted outside without delay by a couple of man-mountains. It’s always been this way and will continue to be this way. Business is business after all and the business is money.
Fun can quickly turn sinister without proper training and guidelines in place and this appears to be the case with the Presidents Club. Just a shame that all those UK charities will now suffer because the organisers forgot the basic principle that everyone should have a good time, staff included.
"MAN IN SAN AN" by Martin Makepeace 