{"id":220318,"date":"2026-05-05T05:13:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T05:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/220318\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T05:13:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T05:13:08","slug":"concierge-firm-co-founded-by-queens-nephew-went-on-ill-timed-hiring-spree-before-iran-war-services-sector","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/220318\/","title":{"rendered":"Concierge firm co-founded by queen\u2019s nephew went on \u2018ill-timed\u2019 hiring spree before Iran war | Services sector"},"content":{"rendered":"

The embattled luxury concierge service co-founded by Queen Camilla\u2019s nephew Ben Elliot embarked on what appeared to be an inopportune hiring spree in the Middle East and Asia before wealthy individuals began fleeing the region because of the US-Israel war on Iran<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Quintessentially almost quadrupled staff in the regions from 22 to 84 during its financial year to 30 April 2025, according to newly released annual accounts, which again reported multimillion-pound losses and warned of \u201cmaterial uncertainty\u201d about its future.<\/p>\n

The increase in staff numbers came less than a year before the conflict erupted in the Middle East \u2013 with Iran retaliating against US and Israeli strikes by targeting Gulf cities including Dubai. The attacks prompted a scramble among the wealthy to leave the Emirates via alternative routes on private jets<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A Quintessentially spokesperson said the business continued to hire in the region and was planning another office in Dubai<\/a>. In January it opened a base in Beirut.<\/p>\n

The comments made in the annual accounts of Quintessentially (UK) highlighted how the company had been continuing to monitor events in the Gulf.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the group\u2019s operational presence in the UAE [United Arab Emirates], management has performed scenario analysis to assess the potential impact of a range of downside cases on the group\u2019s operations and financial performance,\u201d the accounts stated. \u201cThese scenarios include consideration of possible disruption to regional operations, changes in customer demand and potential supply chain constraints.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quintessentially was co-founded by Ben Elliot, a former co-chair of the Tory party, in 2000. Photograph: Justin Tallis\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Quintessentially is known for providing services to wealthy clients such as securing tables and tickets for millionaires<\/a> at fully booked restaurants and events, as well as liaising with admissions officers at top private schools.<\/p>\n

The seemingly unfortunate timing of its expansion in the Gulf region represents the latest challenge for a company that has recently experienced its fair share of financial trials.<\/p>\n

The accounts set out how Quintessentially made pre-tax losses of \u00a33m in the year, up from \u00a32.1m in the previous 12 months<\/a>. The directors also highlighted there was a risk the group could need to \u201cobtain external funding, which may not be forthcoming and therefore this creates material uncertainty that may ultimately cast doubt about the group and company\u2019s ability to continue as a going concern\u201d.<\/p>\n

The business does not appear to have been completely turned around since the end of the financial reporting period, with the latest filing also saying its debt to its 26.7% shareholder, World Fuel Services Europe, had increased. \u201cOn 30 November 2025, the lender agreed to extend the \u00a315.5m facility by a further \u00a32.6m increasing the principal to \u00a318.1m,\u201d the filing said.<\/p>\n

Quintessentially is paying its part-owner interest on the loan of six percentage points above the Bank of England\u2019s current base rate of 3.75%<\/a>, the filing added. The company was co-founded by Elliot, a former co-chair of the Conservative party, in 2000.<\/p>\n

The company said its directors expected a return to profitability in the financial year 2026-27, while revenues for the year to April 2025 rose to \u00a333.8m from \u00a329.3m. However, the top-line improvement was driven almost completely by the US business, which reported a rise in sales of \u00a37m to \u00a312m, while revenues of the UK business fell by \u00a33.4m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The embattled luxury concierge service co-founded by Queen Camilla\u2019s nephew Ben Elliot embarked on what appeared to be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":220319,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-220318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220318\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}