Leading figures from business and finance at a prestigious all-male charity dinner have been accused of groping and propositioning female ‘hostesses’.
The Presidents Club hired 130 women as hostesses at the annual black-tie fundraiser, which was held at The Dorchester hotel in Mayfair last Thursday.
They were given black outfits and allegedly told to wear matching black underwear and ‘sexy’ shoes to parade in front of guests from British business, politics and finance at the start of the night.
But two undercover reporters who posed as hostesses for the evening claimed some women were repeatedly propositioned by the male guests, with one man accused of exposing himself.
The Presidents Club hired 130 women as hostesses at the annual black-tie fundraiser, which was held at The Dorchester hotel in Mayfair last Thursday (pictured in 2012)
One unnamed man reportedly grabbed a hostess by the waist and said: ‘You look far too sober. I want you to down that glass, rip off your knickers and dance on the table.’
The fundraiser was hosted by David Walliams, and the names of Sir Philip Green and Dragons Den star Peter Jones were seen on a seating chart ahead of the event. There is no suggestion that they were involved in the organisation of the event or any alleged groping.
The Presidents Club raised £2million at the dinner, and during its 33-year history it has given more than £20million to charities such as Great Ormond Street, Barnados and the NSPCC.
The hostesses were recruited by the Artista agency, which reportedly said all hostesses had to be ‘tall, thin and pretty’, and told successful applicants not to bring their boyfriends or girlfriends to the event.
During the interviews, founder Caroline Dandridge allegedly told an undercover Financial Times reporter: ‘It’s a Marmite job. Some girls love it and for other girls it’s the worst job in the world and they will never do it again.
‘You just have to put up with the annoying men and if you can do that it’s fine.’
According to the reporters, the women were given dresses to wear during their shift and had to line up and parade in front of the guests at the start of the night
The women, who are believed to have signed a five-page non-disclosure agreement, were warned some of the guests might try and get the girls ‘p***ed’.
It was claimed they were paid £150 for a ten-hour shift and given £25 for a taxi home.
According to the reporters, the women were given dresses to wear during their shift and had to line up and parade in front of the guests at the start of the night.
During the evening, some of the guests allegedly held hostesses’ hands while they were sitting down. One 28-year-old hostess told an undercover reporter she had been inappropriately touched on her hips, stomach and legs, and a man had tried to kiss her.
David Walliams is pictured at the National Television Awards on Tuesday night
Many of the hostesses at the party were jobbing actresses or students looking for extra money, and some were described as looking ‘shocked’ and ‘frightened’ by the experience. The main event at the fundraiser was an auction in which guests got the chance to bid for tea with Bank of England governor Mark Carney, or lunch with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.
Seedier lots are believed to have included a trip to the Windmill strip club in Soho or plastic surgery ‘to spice up your wife’.
At midnight, the group moved to a different room in the hotel for an after-party, where one hostess was told to take off her underwear and dance on the table.
Both Miss Dandridge and The Dorchester told the Financial Times they had no knowledge of any harassment or wrongdoing at the party.
In a statement, the luxury hotel said it had a zero-tolerance attitude to harassment and said it would cooperate with the authorities if any complaints were made. Miss Dandridge told the Financial Times: ‘There is a code of conduct that we follow.
‘I am not aware of any reports of sexual harassment and with the calibre of guest, I would be astonished.’
Mr Walliams declined to comment to the FT and none of the trustees provided any comment last night.