The Philosophy Behind THE BUTLER's Services

Butler service offered in hotels or apartments is provided to anyone using the facility and the relationship lasts only for the duration of the stay.

By contrast, what I arrange is for butlers to serve one particular client on a continuing basis. Because preferences and habits can be recorded over time, preparations can be made before a request is even voiced.

Although the same words are used, the substance differs, so anyone considering a request is advised to decide which form of service they are seeking.

In the past, butlers were regarded as the preserve of a limited circle. Many people never even reached the stage of consideration simply because few ways of engaging one existed.

I have therefore introduced graded arrangements, from short visits to full-time residence, so that clients may first experience the service.

I believe the value becomes clear once it is experienced. Details of terms and specific arrangements appear on the official THE BUTLER website.

If arranging alone were the whole of it, quality would rest entirely with the individual. THE BUTLER forms a single continuum with the Association’s training and certification precisely so that standards are shared.

Only this structure can guarantee that every butler who arrives meets a consistent level.

—The same butler keeps returning

I also publish the register of butlers for the same reason. Allowing clients to compare profiles and choose increases their satisfaction while encouraging each butler to continue refining his skills.

Keeping the same butler returning is part of quality as we see it. If the person changes each time, the household must explain its rules from scratch every visit, and the burden only grows. We fix the assignment, and where a change is unavoidable the outgoing butler briefs the incoming one before the next visit.

Although a butler oversees the entire operation of a house, he does not accept every task. Medical procedures, legal work, transport or accommodation bookings and other activities that demand licences or registration lie outside his remit.

Stating these boundaries clearly also protects the client.

Having defined what cannot be done, I then ensure that the remaining scope is delivered to the fullest extent. That is the guiding principle of the service design.

If the requirement is already clearly defined, engaging a specialist may sometimes be more appropriate.

A butler is most effective when matters are still unorganised or when several tasks are advancing simultaneously, because his role is to view the whole and establish the order of priorities.

—Nothing need be decided yet

Further examples of actual assignments appear on the page that shows butlers at work.

Nothing need be decided at the enquiry stage. Indeed, if what you want is a single defined task, a specialist in that field may serve you faster. What we would rather hear about is not the problem itself but the hours: at what point in the day the hands run short.

The five levels are divided by duration: a few hours of service at table, a full day from morning to evening, a week that spans a stay or an occasion, a monthly arrangement covering the running of the house, and a resident post holding the whole household. Most people begin with a few hours on a day when visitors are expected.

—Beginning at the lower end

Choosing a high level at the outset does not help if the household has no grounding to receive it. How much to entrust is hard to judge until someone has actually worked at your side once. Try a short engagement first and raise the level when you feel the need. That is the order we recommend.

—A level can be lowered

Levels can also be lowered. A monthly arrangement through a busy season can return to occasional days once things settle. Being able to move up and down with the household's circumstances is why there are five levels at all.

The three comparisons that come up most are the housekeeper, the secretary and the concierge. A housekeeper handles the work inside the house, a secretary the schedule and correspondence of the working day, a concierge the requests of those who come to a building. Each has a clear remit and works reliably within it.

—The role that sets the order

What a butler takes on sits one step earlier. What should come first today, who needs to be told what, which to favour when a visitor and the family fall on the same hour. The role decides the order and passes those decisions on. That is why, in a house with a butler, the others find it easier to move.

—Not a replacement

It is not a replacement. A butler may join a household that already has a housekeeper; in that case the butler arranges the sequence and the work itself goes on exactly as before.

It is worth being concrete about what is refused. Treating someone who has fallen ill belongs to medicine, and a butler will not do it even to the extent of handing over a tablet. Advising on the content of a contract is the work of someone qualified in law. Booking travel or lodging on another's behalf is a registered trade and is not undertaken.

—What remains on this side of the line

Plenty remains on this side of the line. Noticing that a doctor should be called and setting the arrangements in motion, preparing the room for a meeting with a specialist, managing luggage and timing on the day of a journey — all of that lies inside a butler's duties.

—Leaving nothing vague protects you

Drawing the boundary plainly is itself a protection for the client. Letting someone into the inside of your house while what they cannot do stays vague is a poor bargain.