With Saudi nationals spending over £78m per year in London alone, it’s no wonder that visitors from the Middle East are an integral part of London life and a regular source of income for many chauffeurs in and around the capital. Andy Dubberley has compiled this comprehensive guide on what you should know if you’re going to be working for Middle Eastern clients here in the UK, and what attributes they look for in their drivers.
First and foremost, not all Middle Eastern families visiting the UK are ridiculously rich – but it’s fair to say a good proportion don’t exactly worry about paying the mortgage! Their requirements and expectations differ enormously, as do their personalities and attitudes towards their staff. Not all chauffeurs have the ability or the temperament to deal with these unpredictable and often extremely demanding customers, but get it right and they can be a very lucrative source of work.
The time of year they visit the UK, which means London in the main, largely depends on when the Islamic month of Ramadan falls each year and although most visitors are only here during the summer months, it is not uncommon these days to have Arab clients here at pretty much any time of the year, including Christmas.
Many arrive in the UK via scheduled flights into Heathrow but, dependent on wealth, others will charter private jets and the preferred jet centres are Harrods Aviation at Luton Airport, Signature Aviation, also at Luton, Northolt and TAG Aviation at Farnborough. In the last few years, I’ve personally found Farnborough to be the firm favourite because the facilities are second to none and the journey into West London is, more often than not, way more straightforward than trying to fight your way in from north of the capital.
Just a quick note if you’re using TAG at Farnborough for the first time, you will need a PPR number to gain entry through the gate and this needs to come from the aircraft handling company who are looking after your clients. If it’s not received, make sure you ask for it because it avoids unnecessary delays at the gate house. It’s always worth an advance call to any of these jet centres so you can pass on vehicle registrations and drivers names. It’s common sense but don’t forget a couple of forms of photo ID as these might well be required in some cases.
If your clients are arriving by a scheduled flight then there’s nothing that you don’t already know about the meet & greet. One snippet of advice though, have some cash to pay the porter, (or quite possibly porters), when the luggage is loaded because the visitors may not have any sterling at that point and their first impression of you won’t be great if you’ve got to run back down to the arrivals hall to visit the hole in the wall.
Realistically, any chauffeur who doesn’t have a good knowledge of Central London, especially the West End is going to struggle. The vast majority of the work is ‘as directed’ so there’s no time for advance planning, recces or research you’d probably get the opportunity to do in the exec chauffeuring world. Most Middle Eastern clients are willing to pay a good daily rate for decent chauffeurs but they expect a lot for their money and they won’t tolerate drivers who don’t know the capital to a pretty high standard.
Most Arabic clients have a lot of respect for good chauffeurs, (even if they don’t always show it) and you can expect them to be very loyal once you impress them and earn their trust. The two main attributes required by drivers working for Middle Eastern clients are patience and flexibility, and the work is probably best avoided if you’re a strict follower of the European working time directive! In most cases there’s no form of itinerary, (with the exception of the odd business meeting perhaps), so the majority of Arab clients are, shall we say, laid back about timings. Being told to pitch up at the hotel or residence at 10am doesn’t mean family members will be on the move at that time, in fact you might well find yourself still in situ several hours later, knowing the law of sod dictates the moment you drive away to grab a cuppa and sarnie will be the exact time they emerge. By the same token, you might occasionally get a call half an hour before your start time to ask if you’ve arrived yet!
Middle Eastern clients are as varied as any others, and the type of work you can expect is dependant on the size and make up of the families. There are VVIP Royals whose staffing is run by dedicated agencies who employ literally hundreds of drivers. Although the family nearly always retains a small number of full time chauffeurs who normally look after the main principals themselves, many more drivers are employed on a seasonable basis and quite possibly won’t even get to set eyes on the family’s most high-ranking members.
The majority of these seasonal employees will be responsible for transporting extended family, staff and even luggage. As with any large group of staff, those who stand out will hopefully get noticed and move up the pecking order but it’s fair to say that far too many of these seasonal chauffeurs display shockingly poor standards and it’s quite simply a ‘bums on seats’ game for some agencies.
On the plus side, getting employment by this method is a good way for those new to the industry to find out what it’s like to work for Middle Eastern clientele and get a foot on the ladder. Depending on what role you’re allocated, prepare yourself for a lot of time spent cleaning cars and twiddling your thumbs.
There are also hundreds of smaller families who employ chauffeur services and as with any similar client, the service is naturally a lot more personal and dedicated. As demanding a role as it can be, working so closely with a smaller family over time can be extremely rewarding. Do a good job and they become reliant on you as an organiser and not just a chauffeur, the secret is to try and make yourself indispensable. It helps enormously if you have good contacts because, to give you some idea, over the years I’ve been asked to purchase or arrange everything from ten of the best seats for a 1D concert in Paris, (my credit card took a bit of a hammering on that one), through to the export of a pure breed Bengal cat to Saudi.
Car choice is a tricky one and no doubt the purists will say an S-Class is a must. As much as it hurts me, I’d probably agree, but Viano’s are also a very popular choice. To be honest, there are many Arabic clients who consider the loyalty and professionalism of the chauffeur as being more important than the badge (within reason), so expect to see the usual selection of A8L’s, 7-Series, Range Rovers and even E-Class in addition to the much loved S.
The other thing to be prepared for is the sheer amount of horrendously poor ‘chauffeurs’ you will see in action during the season. I never cease to be amazed how many of these people get employment but the up side is that professionals stand out and can build a good reputation for themselves by being the exception to the rule.
As any chauffeur with Middle Eastern client experience will verify, the number one pastime you will be involved with is shopping. You have to know where the major stores are located as well as the relevant entry and exit points. You’ll need to familiarise yourself with the drop off and pick up points if you can’t pull up immediately outside and where you can park close by so that you’re only a minute away once you get the call. Prepare for an on-going game of cat and mouse with the ever popular parking enforcement officers because they know where we’ll all be lurking and we’re considered easy pickings. It is absolutely necessary to add parking to the bill because it’s virtually impossible to hover without having to pay your share to the council’s coffers. As well as the shops, clients will expect you to be au fait with the ‘in’ restaurants, clubs, (for the younger family members) and even what’s on at the many theatres and cinemas so do your homework and be prepared.
The structure of the families varies dependent on size, status and situation. For those who own a UK residence, liaison between the family members and drivers is often via a ‘house manager’, who is the trusted individual responsible for the family’s affairs in this country, as well as fulfilling the role of caretaker at the property. For larger families, the house manager’s role is often complimented by a senior member of staff from the family’s own country who works extremely closely with the principals wherever they may be.
The above arrangements certainly aren’t set in stone and chauffeurs may well work under instruction from a personal assistant, butler, or even a close protection team leader. There are normally only one or two staff members that have the ear of the senior family members and they, in turn, are responsible for passing information down through the ‘chain of command’ for want of a better term. After many years working for a particular family, it may even be that it is the chauffeur themselves who ends up as the most trusted staff member and it is they who take responsibility for arranging the family’s movements and organising staff.
As with any nationality of high net worth client, some take their personal security far more seriously than others so you might find yourself working with a close protection team. This is something many chauffeurs have no experience of so it’s worth an article all on it’s own and I’ll be looking at that in the very near future.
Middle Eastern clients are unique in many cases simply because of their sheer wealth. We’ve all heard the dreaded word ‘budget’ far too often from our various clients but it isn’t a word I’ve ever heard mentioned in these circles! Working for Arabs can be maddening at times and extremely exhausting but it can also be an opportunity to experience chauffeuring at a very high level as well as being financially very rewarding. Like any other clients, some are much more discerning than others but if you’re top of your game and constantly stay one step ahead, you could well end up with high quality work several times a year – and that’s always welcome in this industry.
See you at Harrods! Join in the discussions at Chauffeur Network UK Facebook group.
Andy Dubberley.
