Exodus of wealthy leaves Jeeves out of a job

Telegraph

3 days ago

Alex*, an experienced British butler in his 60s, has spent decades working for high-profile billionaires.
'I had my own private jet, as it were,' he says. 'I went to butler school. This isn't about just putting a plate of food in front of someone'.
At the International Butler Academy, in the Netherlands, Alex was taught etiquette; learnt how to light a cigar for a client; sent to see how high-end shoes are made; shown how to pack and unpack a suitcase; and trained in 'how to assist a lady in and out of a car, especially if she's wearing a low-cut dress or short skirt'.
These were all skills that billionaires were willing to pay for.
Since graduating from butler school in the early 2000s he has worked with some of the wealthiest people in Britain, arranging everything from lavish Hallowe'en parties with ghost trains to 'hair-raising' yacht parties on the Caribbean island of St Barts.
But having been in demand his whole career, Alex is now facing a sudden change in fortune. Since Labour abolished the non-dom status and tightened inheritance tax rules, the ultra-rich families he has always worked for are fleeing.
'The non-dom tax change has had a big effect on me. One client has gone to Monaco, one to Singapore and one to Dubai,' he says, adding that London mansions worth tens of millions of pounds are being left vacant with just one housekeeper in.
He is now hunting for a new job for the first time in years and finding the market for high-end housekeeping brutal. Recruiters who place butlers and chefs with rich families tell him that vacancies that used to have 15 applicants on average now attract hundreds.
'I applied for a job recently and didn't get it, but was then told to train the butler who did get it. His salary was half the salary I was expecting.'
London's fading lustre
Alex is not alone. Adam*, a housekeeper for wealthy families, was recently dismissed and has noticed that demand for roles like his has 'dropped considerably'.
'These short-term arrangements and broader market shifts have led to significant job insecurity for house managers, many of whom now find themselves unemployed,' he says.
While exact numbers are hard to come by, the signs aren't good. The number of new non-doms arriving in Britain plunged by more than 5,000 in the year before Labour took power, official tax figures show.
Around 4,400 directors reported an overseas move in the last year, according to Bloomberg analysis of Companies House filings. Even before Labour took power, Swiss bank UBS said the UK was on track to see the biggest departure of dollar-millionaires out of a group of 56 countries by 2028.
The flight of the ultra-rich has left many butlers, chefs and nannies used to earning up to £140,000 a year out of a job.
Those who have fled since Labour's tax crackdown include John Fredriksen, who was the UK's ninth-richest man and who owns one of London's most expensive private houses, a £250m listed mansion in Chelsea.
Others considering relocating include Indian entrepreneur Lakshmi Mittal, a billionaire dubbed the 'King of Steel' who is the eighth-richest person in the UK.
He owns several mansions on a London street nicknamed 'Billionaires' Row,' including one which has a jewel-encrusted swimming pool and is nicknamed the 'Taj Mittal'.
'There's more to go,' says Alex. 'I'm speaking to a non-dom past employer who said that he's looking to leave next year or the year after. He said it's the non-dom tax status change giving him the issue.'
London was once a magnet for the world's wealthy thanks to its plush houses, good schools and Britain's stable political and legal systems.
During the boom times, one London-based headhunter says they recruited someone just to travel ahead of a wealthy family on trips to pre-inspect hotel suites and iron all the bedsheets.
Another hired four dog nannies on £70,000 a year each, plus accommodation. Each had to have a veterinary qualification and be slim enough to fit into matching Chanel outfits to look the part on holidays to Gstaad, the ski resort for the super-rich.
But the market is shifting fast, with many of the ultra-mobile rich now relocating to more tax-efficient jurisdictions.
'London still holds a unique appeal, but we'd be naive to say it hasn't lost some ground,' says Sara Vestin Rahmani, who runs high-end staff recruitment agency Bespoke Bureau. Her clients are worth between £30m and several billion.
'The combination of political instability, taxation changes and global competition has made some reconsider where they base themselves.'
Debbie Salter, who runs recruitment agency Greycoat Lumleys, told the Financial Times this month that new business was down 14pc compared with last year.
As Labour cracks down on non-doms, other countries are welcoming them with open arms.
'Looking at our current job list, our European market has grown a lot over the last 18 months,' says Izzy Boland, who runs Cora Partners, another London-based agency that finds staff for wealthy households.
'We've grown in Italy, Monaco and Switzerland since Labour came in.'
While the latest tax changes have triggered a surge in relocations, Boland says the market for high-end help has been under pressure for some time.
'The first time we really noticed it was after the Ukraine invasion and sanctioning at the top end of the Russian market – these were people who had households of 30-plus members of staff. Within two days all those members were made redundant,' she says.
There is little sign of the market turning around any time soon. Still, high-end helpers out of work for the first time in years continue with their daily hunt.
On his way to a job interview, Adam sounds despondent.
'The demand for house managers has dropped considerably,' he says. 'I believe this is part of a wider trend affecting professionals who manage luxury properties – it's leaving many skilled individuals without work.'
Boland says: 'There are a lot more people looking for jobs than there are jobs, particularly at the high-end of the scale.'