Jeeves is more PA than butler
Modern gentleman's gentleman is a pricey and multiskilled asset
Some say it's the Downton Abbey effect; others attribute the surprisingly rude health of Britain's butler industry to the rise in foreign high-net-worth individuals putting down roots there and seeking to buy themselves a lifestyle befitting their status. Either way, business is booming for British butlers, even if today's Bertie Woosters are more likely to hail from Russia, Kazakhstan or the United Arab Emirates than an English village. Statistics published this week by Greycoat Lumleys, a recruitment consultancy, show that the wages of live-in butlers in London have increased by 8.2% in two years, hitting an average of £43000 pa (about R714000). Live-out butlers can command an average of £45000 a year - 14.2% higher than in 2016. The news comes as no surprise to Paola Diana, the founder of Nanny & Butler, an agency that provides butlers and other household staff to the very wealthy. Indeed, the figures look conservative against the £80000 to £150000 salaries she says a good butler...
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