Butler

By MONIQUE DEVEREUX

He can organise your wardrobe, your cars, your country estate, your townhouse, your dinner parties and your private correspondence.

He knows what you drink and when you want it served. He will hear all and know all about your household, yet remain the soul of discretion.

Or at least he wants to.

He is Hamish Jenkins, one of only a handful of New Zealanders to graduate from the Australian Butler Training School in Sydney.

At a fresh-faced 21, he does not fit the mould of a stereotypical butler - except, perhaps, for the surname.

Jenkins trained and worked as a chef in Christchurch before heading to Sydney for butler school.

He is the youngest person accepted by the school, which takes only 24 students a year, and director Pamela Spruce said this was due to his chef's qualification and experience.

"Hamish, he worked hard and did extremely well," she said. "He is quiet and efficient and is perfect for the job. I could get him a position overseas in a minute."

Other New Zealanders who have graduated from the school work in Dubai and London. But Jenkins wants to stay in New Zealand.

To do so, he knows he has to "educate" prospective employers about the role of a butler.

"It sounds old fashioned, and it can be formal if that's what the employer wants," he said.

But the modern butler is no longer "staid, old and British". Training covers everything from cleaning to organising a wardrobe to silver service. There is a strong emphasis on discretion and Ms Spruce said no one was accepted on the course without his "character" being thoroughly assessed.

She regularly places graduates with celebrities. Whoever the employer, Jenkins said the job remained the same: "It's organising and running a household."

The starting pay? About $45,000 - and some employers throw in a car and a mobile phone.