Working with us

Who we look for

We place about a hundred and forty people a year: house managers, butlers, housekeepers, nannies, chefs, estate security staff and companions. Most of them have worked with us before. We are always glad to meet people who have not.

We look for at least three years in private service, or in a fine hotel, restaurant or club, and references we can speak to. We look for people who take pride in work that nobody is meant to notice, and who keep what they see to themselves.

What we offer

• No fees, ever. We are paid by households. We never charge candidates for registration, training, placement or anything else, and nobody may take a fee from your pay in our name.
• Positions you will not see advertised. Most of the positions we fill are never advertised at all.
• Honest briefs. Before you meet a household, you will read our written brief, including the difficult parts.
• Training on the Larchcombe course, without charge, for everyone on our register.
• Someone to call. Your consultant, during the day, and the duty line at every other hour.

What a placement asks of you

Every member of staff we place signs a confidentiality agreement with the household, with a term of twenty years, and reads and signs the Residence Code. Many of the households we act for require more discretion than most employers, and some require staff to hand in personal telephones during duty hours. We will tell you before you meet a household what it will ask of you, so that you can decide whether you want the position before anyone else decides whether you should have it.

Living in

About a third of the positions we fill are live-in. A live-in position is a home as well as a job, and we ask candidates to think honestly about whether they want one. Neil Fairbanks has written about what we mean by live-in.