Get a life - and a PA

Lifestyle management is a growing skill that PAs are turning to, Lifestyle PA skills TO be a top-level PA demands exceptional skills, but there are some tasks that would stump even the most resourceful.

Being asked to find a top plastic surgeon in minutes, get tickets for a sold-out concert or organise a marriage proposal are just a few of the requests that a new breed of so-called "lifestyle" PAs are taking on.

These PAs work for a growing stable of lifestyle management, concierge and members-only clubs prepared to take charge of any aspect of their clients' lives from the mundane to the outlandish. DJ Sara Cox asked lifestyle management company Tenuk to organise her wedding.

Its founder, Alex Cheatle, 32, recalls helping another of his clients fulfil his desire to breed chickens.

"He was a director at Microsoft who fancied moving out to the country and breeding chickens," says Cheatle. "We advised him on the various types of chickens and which were the best ones for breeding.

In the end, I became an expert on chickens."

Cheatle assigns each of Tenuk's 10,000 corporate and private clients a lifestyle PA or manager. One is Catherine Smith, 30, who says: "I meet my clients in person initially and get to know all about their lifestyle - their likes and dislikes. Afterwards, I'll speak to some of them daily, weekly or monthly. Some like to meet me every couple of months for a coffee and a chat, but most are happy with regular contact via phone or email."

Smith looks after 25 to 30 private clients and her salary of pounds 26,000 matches that of a top corporate PA. But for her the real bonus of the job is the variety involved in looking after a diverse range of people.

"We offer a bespoke service so my job can involve anything and everything.

The most popular requests are to do with the home, things like finding plumbers, electrician and cleaners. At the moment, I am talking to BT and NTL about sorting out new phone lines for one of my clients while also organising a trip to the Seychelles for another client as a birthday surprise for his girlfriend. I've made up a treasure chest of things relating to the Seychelles, that will be couriered to him to give to her at a dinner I've organised as well."

A report last November by internet bank Cahoot revealed that time- starved Britons are spending pounds 43 billion a year on paying other people to carry out their chores. But aside from taking care of everyday chores, lifestyle clubs also provide affluent professionals who are too busy to make friends with a means of improving their social lives.

Charles Ostroumoff, 28, a former management consultant who set up Y-club in 1999, looks after his 200-strong membership with three other lifestyle PAs.

"With my corporate clients I deal with one or two gatekeepers and they could be the PA to the managing director or someone in the marketing department who has a lot of entertainment or travel needs.

While for my private clients, I'll do anything and everything, though they pay a premium for that," he says.

Raghad Al-Kazemi, 31, a psychiatrist at the Priory Clinic, is a client.

She's been with Ostroumoff for two years and contacts him about three times a week with various jobs.

"I live on my own and work very long hours so I needed to find someone who would do things for me quickly rather than me running around," says Al-Kazemi.

"I think of Charles as my PA, he basically does everything.

He's helped me find solicitors, set up accounts, book holidays and get concert tickets. When I need something I just email or phone. The biggest job he's done for me was organise my house move and he also managed to get me tickets to an exclusive charity event at Nobu," she says.

Some companies, such as Quintessentially and The Renaissance Club, are less hands-on and operate as more of an internet-based private members club. But even if they will not pick up your laundry, they will know a man who can.

With annual fees ranging from pounds 145 to pounds 1,000, hiring someone to sort out your life doesn't come cheap, but Alex Cheatle is confident that lifestyle management will become more popular as more people become aware of the benefits. "I think people are realising that it's not just about somebody doing something instead of you but also about somebody doing it better than you."

Tenuk (07000 101999); Y-club (020 7928 5342). Other lifestyle companies: Entriga (0800 085 5907); Enviego 020 7893 6067.

Excellent interpersonal and communication skills. Being able to build and maintain contacts is crucial.

Discretion - you are often dealing with VIP clients Patience Exceptional organisational skills Solid commercial and business awareness Ability to prioritise and pay attention to detail

Copyright 2003
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.