Concierge firm co-founded by queen’s nephew went on ‘ill-timed’ hiring spree before Iran war

The embattled luxury concierge service co-founded by Queen Camilla’s nephew Ben Elliot embarked on what appeared to be an inopportune hiring spree in the Middle East and Asia before wealthy individuals began fleeing the region because of the US-Israel war on Iran . Quintessentially almost quadrupled staff in the regions from 22 to 84 during its financial year to 30 April 2025, according to newly released annual accounts, which again reported multimillion-pound losses and warned of “material uncertainty” about its future. The increase in staff numbers came less than a year before the conflict erupted in the Middle East – with Iran retaliating against US and Israeli strikes by targeting Gulf cities including Dubai. The attacks prompted a scramble among the wealthy to leave the Emirates via alternative routes on private jets . A Quintessentially spokesperson said the business continued to hire in the region and was planning another office in Dubai . In January it opened a base in Beirut. The comments made in the annual accounts of Quintessentially (UK) highlighted how the company had been continuing to monitor events in the Gulf. “Given the group’s operational presence in the UAE [United Arab Emirates], management has performed scenario analysis to assess the potential impact of a range of downside cases on the group’s operations and financial performance,” the accounts stated. …