From folding napkins to serving royalty

Andrew started at the very rock bottom of the hospitality industry. He polished brass, carried luggage and scrubbed the men’s urinal at The Claridges Hotel, in London, as a Savoy trainee.

He then worked his way up, getting to the Dorchester and Le Meridien Hotels in London in head positions. For 10 years he worked in different countries, in exclusive private members’ clubs.

Andrew can speak English, Bahasa Indonesian, Russian, Thai and Japanese. He has served Sylvester Stallone, the late Michael Jackson, late Princess Diana, Arabian royalties, the Queen of England, kings, princes and the uber-wealthy.

Under Signature Clubs International, he has opened exclusive private business clubs in London, Dubai, China and now Nairobi, the region’s first exclusive private business club.

The success of the Capital Club, in Nairobi, has surprised him. So what’s next for the dyslexic boy who nobody thought would amount to much?

You started from the very bottom, what has that journey taught you?

That you have to do your time. In my formative years as a trainee I would spend lots of time folding table napkins; in fact even now I can fold napkins in four different ways. It wasn’t the most exciting of tasks but I did it over and over, and I did it daily.

Now I see young people in the hospitality industry who are so impatient they want to make manager after one year not knowing that doing the small mundane stuff builds and prepares you for the bigger tasks.

I never worked for money, I worked because I wanted to learn and move forward.

You have served the very elite in society. Forget riches, how does true wealth look like? What is the face of real money?

That’s a good question. (Long pause). You know, when I worked in the Claridges we served the crème of London and I remember that when we would reserve tables, customers would still sit on them, regardless.

So we started using mock drinks to reserve these tables and I remember one day the King and Queen of Spain walking in and taking a table that we had reserved. (Pause).

Let me tell you something else, there was this one very wealthy lady who was the founder of a bank and a friend of the late Margaret Thatcher who would come to have tea at the hotel every afternoon.

She was always grumpy and she was the loneliest woman I ever saw with all her money. My grandmother died with nothing but she died happy. Money doesn’t bring you happiness. People with little money bestow importance in the small things that matter.

If money doesn’t bring happiness, what does?

Family. Children. That’s important. There are people with lots of money but with nobody to share it with. Money makes them…empty.

Are you happy?

Yes. I have always wanted to travel, to leave Middlesbrough (in the UK) where I would have ended working in the oil or steel business like most people. I have two kids- boy, 7, girl 9- and a great wife. I’m happy.

Does a wealthy person in Middle East, Russia and in Africa have the same characteristic? Any unique common traits?

(Cautious tone) I served one of the very wealthiest Royal families in the Middle East. When they let their hair down…they really let their hair down.

The things you will experience when exposed to the wealthy isn’t something that I can talk about on record.

I was Michael Jackson’s private butler at The Dorchester Hotel during the height of his career in 1994. I was the only person allowed inside his suite.

Prior to his arrival we prepared the room for a week, with things, you would have thought a child would be staying in the suite.

For the six weeks he stayed there, he was nothing but a shy and humble man who enjoyed the company of kids. There were always tons of children around. He loved children…

Who is the oddest celebrity you have ever attended to?

Sylvester Stallone. (Chuckles). So I go into his room and serve him breakfast and later he leaves. Later I go up to his room to clean up, I swipe the card key and walk in, I run into a tall and naked model standing in the middle of the room fiddling with the TV remote!

The model was Jeiffer Flavin, top model! [Now married to Stallone]. “Will you please show me how to use this?” She says and there I was, nervously fiddling with the remote as a stark naked super model stood next to me!!

What do you do for fun?

I love football. Early in the week I was at Jaffrey’s playing football. My kids are in Ligi Ndogo, my daughter is the only girl in the league.

I support Middlesbrough because that’s my home team, my kids don’t understand why we can’t support Arsenal or Manchester United who win. I tell them it’s never about winning; it’s about what’s in your blood.

What profession is your wife?

She is a housewife. But she used to be a flight attendant for a Japanese airline. She is from Thailand. She is very sporty; she is the one who kicks me out of bed to go run every morning. She runs, swims, plays tennis...she is nuts. (Laughs).

As a young single man working all over the world, you must have been exposed to many different women?

(Cautiously) Yes. I remember getting off the plane in Asia and I was the most handsome guy… (Laughs).

I landed and all of a sudden women were flocking around me giving me attention. Something that never happened in London. (Laughs). I think I dated in most of the countries I worked in, fact I almost married a Russian but then I had to leave for a different country.

Lucky guy, very few can say to have had such a diverse racial dating resume!

(Raised hand) Oh please be careful with this one, I don’t want to come across as this predator. Those were different times, I was single, young and traveling the world…

What wild animal do you think you are?

Hmm…(Thinks). I’m a lion. Lying there and let the women do all the work. (Chuckle).