The Presidents Club Charitable Trust was a British charity known for an annual charity dinner held from 1985 to 2018. The dinner, held usually at

The Dorchester The Dorchester is a five-star luxury hotel on Park Lane and Deanery Street in London, to the east of Hyde Park. It is one of the world's most prestigious and expensive hotels. The Dorchester opened on 18 April 1931, and it still retains its ...

hotel in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, was for male guests only and was considered a "mainstay of London's social calendar". After the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' reported on sexual misconduct at the 2018 dinner, the charity announced its intent to disband. The charitable trust's joint chairmen as of 2018 were the property developer

Bruce Ritchie Bruce Weir Ritchie (born February 1965) is a British property developer and residential landlord, and the owner of the Residential Land Group. Early life Bruce Weir Ritchie was born in February 1965. He was educated at Dulwich College where he ...

and the businessman and

Department for Education The Department for Education (DfE) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for child protection, child services, education (compulsory, further and higher education), apprenticeships and wider skills in England. A Department ...

director

David Meller David Robert Meller (born December 1959) is a British businessman, and the sponsor of an academy trust, and a member of the Department for Education's board of directors, until the scandal surrounding the Presidents Club, of which he was the j ...

Charity dinners

The 360 guests at the annual dinners, all men, included leading figures in business, entertainment and politics. They would pay for a dinner and participate in auctions of such prizes as meetings with influential people. The proceeds would go to charities, including children's charities, and other organisations, for example the

British Olympic Association The British Olympic Association (BOA) is the National Olympic Committee for the United Kingdom. It is responsible for organising and overseeing the participation of athletes from the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team, at both ...

and

Disability Rights International Disability Rights International (DRI), formerly Mental Disability Rights International, is a Washington, DC based human rights advocacy organization dedicated to promoting the human rights and full participation in society of persons with disabilit ...

. In 2008, guests at the dinner organised by

Harvey Goldsmith Harvey Goldsmith (born 4 March 1946 in Edgware, Middlesex) is an English performing arts promoter. He is best known as a promoter of rock concerts, charity concerts, television broadcasts for the Prince's Trust and more recently the Teenag ...

included

Jimmy Savile Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile (; 31 October 1926 – 29 October 2011) was an English DJ, television and radio personality who hosted BBC shows including ''Top of the Pops'' and ''Jim'll Fix It''. During his lifetime, he was well known ...

, Justin King,

Harold Tillman Harold Tillman CBE (born 15 October 1945) is an English retail entrepreneur and investor. He was formerly head of Jaeger and Aquascutum, who was awarded CBE in 2010. Until September 2014, Tillman was chair of the British Fashion Council. In 2 ...

and

Robert Tchenguiz Robert Tchenguiz (born 9 September 1960) is a British entrepreneur, property investor, activist shareholder and securities dealer. The younger brother of Vincent Tchenguiz, he undertook a series of corporate deals, focusing particularly on proper ...

. In 2010, guests at the dinner organised by

Peter Shalson Peter Shalson (born February 1957) is a British businessman. Early life Peter Shalson was born in February 1957. He was educated at Hendon County School, and left at 16. Career Shalson made his first fortune in coat hangers and packaging mate ...

and sponsored by

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tri ...

included

Len Blavatnik Sir Leonard Valentinovich Blavatnik, russian: Леонид Валентинович Блаватник, Leonid Valentinovich Blavatnik (born June 14, 1957) is a Ukraine-born American-British business magnate and philanthropist. As of March 202 ...

, Mike Sherwood,

Charles Dunstone Sir Charles William Dunstone (born 21 November 1964) is the British co-founder and former chairman of mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse, former chairman of multinational electrical and telecommunications retailer and services company Dix ...

, Sir

Martin Sorrell Sir Martin Stuart Sorrell (born 14 February 1945) is a British businessman and the founder of WPP plc, the world's largest advertising and PR group, both by revenue and the number of staff. Upon being ousted in April 2018, Sorrell was the longe ...

Richard Desmond Richard Clive Desmond (born 8 December 1951) is a British publisher, businessman and former pornographer. According to the 2021 ''Sunday Times Rich List'', Desmond was the 107th richest person in the United Kingdom. He is the founder of North ...

Bernie Ecclestone Bernard Charles Ecclestone (born 28 October 1930) is an English business magnate. He is the former chief executive of the Formula One Group, which manages Formula One motor racing and controls the commercial rights to the sport, and part-owns ...

Flavio Briatore Flavio Briatore (; born 12 April 1950) is an Italian businessman. He started his career as a restaurant manager and insurance salesman in Italy. Briatore was convicted in Italy on several fraud charges in the 1980s, receiving two prison senten ...

Nick Candy Nicholas Anthony Christopher Candy (born 23 January 1973) and Christian Peter Candy (born 31 July 1974) are British luxury property developers. The brothers were estimated to share a joint net worth of £1.5 billion in the '' Estates Gazette'' r ...

, David Reuben,

Gerald Ronson Gerald Maurice Ronson, CBE (born 27 May 1939) is a British business tycoon and philanthropist. He became known in the UK as one of the 'Guinness Four' for his part in the Guinness share-trading fraud of the 1980s as a result of which he was conv ...

Howard Shore Howard Leslie Shore (born October 18, 1946) is a Canadian composer and conductor noted for his film scores. He has composed the scores for over 80 films, most notably the scores for ''The Lord of the Rings'' and ''The Hobbit'' film trilogies. ...

Jarvis Astaire Jarvis Joseph Astaire, OBE (6 October 1923 – 21 August 2021) was a British sports executive, boxing promoter, and film producer. Life and career Astaire was born in London in October 1923. He was the leading boxing promoter in the United Kingd ...

Jimmy Lahoud Jimmy Lahoud (born June 1949) is a Lebanese businessman and restaurateur in London, England. He has owned restaurants such as Quo Vadis, L'Escargot, and Café St. Pierre (which became Maison Novelli). Lahoud is an art collector, displaying hi ...

, Dan Wagner and

Jimmy Tarbuck James Joseph Tarbuck (born 6 February 1940) is an English comedian, singer, actor, entertainer and game show host. He was a host of ''Sunday Night at the London Palladium'' in the mid-1960s, and hosted numerous game shows and quiz shows on ITV ...

2018 sexual harassment controversy

In January 2018, the ''Financial Times'' sent two undercover reporters to join the 130 scantily clad "hostesses" specially hired for the event by the Artista agency. It reported that several of the guests had sexually harassed or assaulted the hostesses in the course of the evening. The lead reporter, Madison Marriage, wrote that the hostesses were subject to groping, lewd comments, requests to join guests in their bedrooms, questions whether they were prostitutes, and that one attendee exposed his penis to a hostess. Marriage said that she herself had been groped several times. The event's brochure included a full-page warning that harassment would not be tolerated, and that the Presidents Club would not be liable for it if it did happen. The report caused a scandal in the United Kingdom, and commentators connected the event to the #

MeToo #MeToo is a social movement against sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and rape culture, in which people publicize their experiences of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. The phrase "Me Too" was initially used in this context on social media in ...

movement, the

Harvey Weinstein scandal In October 2017, ''The New York Times'' and ''The New Yorker'' reported that dozens of women had accused film producer Harvey Weinstein of rape, sexual assault and sexual abuse over a period of at least 30 years. Over 80 women in the film in ...

and resulting allegations indicating frequent sexual abuse of women. Within a day, the Presidents Club announced that it would disband. Some MPs called for the resignation of children and families minister

Nadhim Zahawi Nadhim Zahawi ( ar, ناظم الزهاوي, translit=Nāẓim az-Zahāwī; ku, نەدیم زەهاوی, translit=Nedîm Zehawî; born 2 June 1967) is an Iraqi-born British politician serving as Chairman of the Conservative Party and Minister ...

, who had been among the guests, as well as for a police investigation of the event. Presidents Club co-chairman David Meller resigned from his Department of Education directorship. Jonathan Mendelsohn, another of the guests, was removed from the Labour

frontbench In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then know ...

in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

. Several bookshops stopped the sale of books by the comedian

David Walliams David Edward Williams (born 20 August 1971), known professionally as David Walliams, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television personality. He is best known for his work with Matt Lucas on the BBC sketch comedy series '' Little B ...

, who had hosted the event and put up the right to name a character in his next book as a prize. All of these men said to the media that they had neither participated in nor witnessed any misconduct. The guest list of the 2018 dinner included the following other notable men (although they did not necessarily attend): *

Liam Botham Liam James Botham (born 26 August 1977) is a former English sportsman who played both codes of rugby football and cricket. He is the son of England cricketer Ian Botham, the Baron Botham. Career Cricket Botham was born in Doncaster and initia ...

, rugby player *

Richard Caring Richard Allan Caring (born 4 June 1948) is a British businessman. He initially built a business, International Clothing Designs, supplying Hong Kong-manufactured fashion to UK retailers. After surviving the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, he div ...

, businessman *

Gino D'Acampo Gennaro Sheffield D'Acampo (born Gennaro D'Acampo; 17 July 1976) is an Italian celebrity chef and media personality based in the United Kingdom, best known for his food-focused television shows and cookbooks. D'Acampo rose to fame as a regular ...

, celebrity chef * Christopher Evans, biotechnology entrepreneur *

Philip Green Sir Philip Nigel Ross Green (born 15 March 1952) is a British businessman who was the chairman of the retail company the Arcadia Group. He owned the high street clothing retailers Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge from 2002 to 2020. As of Ma ...

, retail executive * George Holmes, university executive * Peter Jones,

Dragons' Den ''Dragons' Den'' is a reality television program format in which entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists in the hope of securing investment finance from them. The program originated in 2001 in Japan, where it is k ...

star *

Vernon Kay Vernon Charles Kay (born 28 April 1974) is an English television and radio presenter, and former model. He presented Channel 4's ''T4'' (2000–2005) and has presented various television shows for ITV, including ''All Star Family Fortunes'' (2 ...

, TV presenter *

, restaurateur * Brett Palos, property developer *

Theo Paphitis Theodoros "Theo" Paphitis ( el, Θεόδωρος Παφίτης; born 24 September 1959) is a Greek-Cypriot British retail magnate and entrepreneur. He is best known for his appearances on the BBC business programme ''Dragons' Den'' and as former ...

, Dragons' Den star *

Harry Primrose, Lord Dalmeny Harry Ronald Neil Primrose, Lord Dalmeny (born 20 November 1967), known as Harry Dalmeny, is a British aristocrat and the Chairman of Sotheby's in the United Kingdom. A member of the British British nobility, aristocracy, he is the heir to ten n ...

, deputy chairman of

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...

UK *

Rami Ranger Raminder Singh Ranger, Baron Ranger, (born 28 May 1948) is a British businessman, and the founder of Sun Mark and Sea Air & Land Forwarding, an international marketing and distribution company. He is also chairman and managing director of Sea ...

, founder of

Sun Mark Sun Mark (Sun Mark Limited) is a British company engaged in the marketing and distribution of fast-moving consumer goods. Founded in 1995, it is based in Greenford, London Borough of Ealing. It markets a range of own label products. The compa ...

, property developer *

, property developer * Tim Steiner, co-founder and CEO of

Ocado Ocado Group is a British business based in Hatfield, England, which licenses grocery technology. It owns a 50% share of Ocado.com (the other 50% is owned by UK retailer Marks & Spencer) and licenses its grocery fulfilment technology to global ...

Touker Suleyman Touker Suleyman (born Türker Süleyman; 4 August 1953) is a British- Turkish Cypriot fashion retail entrepreneur, investor, and reality television personality. In 2001, his company Low Profile Group purchased UK shirt maker Hawes & Curtis, and ...

, fashion entrepreneur *

, businessman *

Ceawlin Thynn, Viscount Weymouth Ceawlin Henry Laszlo Thynn, 8th Marquess of Bath (; ; born 6 June 1974), styled Viscount Weymouth between 1992 and 2020, is a British businessman and the first son and second child of Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath, and his wife Anna Gy ...

, businessman * Dan Wagner, Internet entrepreneur *

Poju Zabludowicz Chaim "Poju" Zabludowicz (born 6 April 1953) is a Finnish-born British billionaire businessman, art collector and philanthropist.Midgley, Dominic (5 March 2010)"FINN CITY..." ''Highbeam Business'' (London). Retrieved 23 June 2013. Early life a ...

, businessman

References

External links

*{{official, https://thepresidentsclubcharity.co.uk Charity events in the United Kingdom 1985 establishments in the United Kingdom 2018 disestablishments in the United Kingdom January 2018 events in the United Kingdom Violence against women in England 2018 scandals Organizations established in 1985 Organizations disestablished in 2018 Sexual harassment in the United Kingdom