Estate & Manor Magazine had the opportunity to sit down with Mr Vincent Vermeulen, founder and managing director of one of Europe’s most popular Butler training schools to conduct an interview relating to his elite training school. As you may or may not know, the Butler is quickly becoming a highly sought-after member of staff for households of the wealthy across the United Kingdom and Europe due to their uncanny ability to ensure an estate or household runs seamlessly.
How did the School For Butlers & Hospitality Get Started?
“The School for Butlers and Hospitality was founded in 2013 and has a history that goes back to 1884, starting with Vincent’s great grand father being a butler himself. The students have a private room on the estate and work, study and live during 8 weeks to become butlers. Our trainers have different specialities: etiquette, yachting, psychology and of course ‘butlering’. They not only teach at the school but most of them also work for High-Net-Worth Families or train staff anywhere in the world.”
Where Is The School For Butlers and Hospitality Located?
“Since 2016 the school is located nearby the Unesco listed city of Bruges, Belgium on an 80,000 square feet estate. The students have a private room on the estate and work, study and live during 8 weeks to become butlers.”
Who Are The Butler Course Trainers?
“Our trainers have different specialities: etiquette, yachting, psychology and of course butlering. They not only teach at the school but most of them also work for High-Net-Worth Families or train luxury staff anywhere in the world.”
Why Should a Person Consider Becoming A Butler?
“The beautiful profession of butler allows you to interact with professionals on a high level. On top of that you get the opportunity to work in the most amazing places in the world and hone your skills with the finest materials. It not only teaches you perfection, but also a development of character and discipline. Something that will serve you for the rest of your life.”
What Does The School’s Butler Course Teach You?
The butler course is carefully designed to teach you vital skills you will need to work at the highest level. We also adapt our course constantly by keeping a close contact with our former students and following the latest trends. We not only train butlers with skills but also very knowledgeable butlers.
How Skills/Experience Learnt The School Relate To Real Situational Household Management
“The estate has facilities as you would find in a real household: multiple bathrooms, a wine cellar, old timer limousine, a walk in closet, etc… This means that our students run the house during the training and gradually establish a full domestic management system. Supported by our proprietary software we combine hands on tasks with overall management.”
How Long Does It Take To Become a Fully-Qualified Butler?
“The training is 8 weeks.”
When Can A Potential Student Enroll On A Butler Course?
“We have 3 sessions per year: February, May and October”
What Is Included In The Course?
“Literally everything is included. You can stay on the estate for 8 weeks and not spend a cent. Meals, wifi, drinks, bed linen, towels, transportation to field trips, butler uniform, office supplies, a 2 day trip to London and of course 8 weeks of butler training.”
What Is The Fee To Join Your Butler Course?
“For a 56 day stay the investment is about 225 € per day for international students. Certain Belgian students can be subsidised up to 50% by the government. The total of the fee is €12500EUR all-in.”
Once a person becomes a fully qualified Butler from the School for butlers and Hospitality, is placement assistance offered? If not, how do students find their first job as a Butler?
“First of all, we include in our training an extended module on how to find a job. We provide our students with several contacts to send their first CV’s. On top of that a graphically stunning CV is made, a professional photo taken and a run through on how to behave during an interview. We also have a partnership with one of the biggest placement agencies in London. Some of our students found a job even before leaving the training!”
What does the School for Butlers and Hospitality do differently than other Butler training providers?
“In short, we change lives.”
“A man, working in IT for 10 years, joined our training and has been heading some of the biggest butler departments in the world for the last 3 years in China.”
“A lady, with a lack of self confidence, working in the media industry wanted to work in hospitality. She wrote a letter to three 3-star Michelin restaurants. No one allowed her in because of no experience or training. After following our course she was offered a job by 2 of those restaurants and she ended up as the number two of a restaurant listed on the top 50 list in the world and being the personal butler to the chef. This was mainly to the extensive training in self confidence at School for Butlers & Hospitality.”