A year of giving back

Ambassadeurs Group, under the leadership of CEO Kevin McGowen, has raised more than £2m for good causes since February 2022, has just increased its GGY donation to support GambleAware in 2023, and is now focused on its corporate philanthropy for the year ahead. As Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Tracy Damestani explains, it is a team effort

Photography by Hamish Brown

In a world where anything is possible, Ambassadeurs Group (AG) has proved that everything is possible. It is just over a year since the formation of the Group, which includes the iconic Les Ambassadeurs Club in London’s Mayfair. Since then it has launched new, future-facing companies including in online gaming and travel, set up training and education programs for staff, put in place charitable alliances, and has raised more than £2 million for good causes through a focus on corporate philanthropy, community engagement and giving back.

The broader Group purpose comes as Les A – as it is affectionately known – doubled down on its commitment to support GambleAware and has increased the Club’s donation of its gross gambling yield (GGY) from 1 percent to 1.1 percent in 2023. Going further still, an additional 0.1 percent of GGY will also be earmarked for harm prevention and education in the gaming sector, where more foucs is expected. This donation to research, education and treatment (RET) into the harms that can come from gambling addiction is 10 times more than any other operator. It is something the AG leaders are proud of. “Why wouldn’t we donate,” asks Tracy Damestani, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, who has long been an advocate for safer gambling. “This enhanced commitment makes a significant difference to the safer-gambling funding body.”

By any measure in any industry the commitment to donating to RET is impressive. For Damestani and the rest of the team at AG, it is visible evidence of the Group’s core purpose which is to raise standards and give back. This lofty-sounding approach is not just hot air. It is an approach that infuses every part of Group. Staff – the WorkFamily – proudly volunteer in the local community, support good causes and help roll out campaigns that are designed to raise money for charities through alliances that the Group has set up. Members are happy to share their good fortune from the casino and donate some of their winnings to good causes. Members are keen to be part of the action too, putting money into events such as a charity golf day to raise money for the Prince’s Trust RISE.

Walking the walk

From the outset AG’s commitment to building better futures for people, planet, members and communities had to be about positive action. “It could not be simply words or unspecified ambitions around charitable giving. It was about setting clear objectives, showing that we were delivering on them and then communicating our achievements to stakeholders,” explains Damestani.

Some highlights from the year since AG was set up include:

• £500,000 raised through member contributions for safer gambling

• Sponsoring a charity golf day to raise money £10,000 for The Prince’s Trust RISE, helping young people across the UK

• Hosting a charity event, in partnership with the OppO Foundation, to celebrate AG’s donation of five specially adapted wheelchairs to help military veterans achieve their sporting dreams

• Donating £110,000 in support of the Disasters Emergency Committee’s appeals for those impacted by the Pakistan floods and the war in Ukraine

Looking for the opportunities

The idea of a group came about during the dark days of lockdown in the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021. Like all other casinos, the doors to Les A were firmly shut and many staff were put on furlough. But the casino’s CEO, Kevin McGowen, likes to think about things differently – and creatively. Instead of seeing closed doors only as a financial problem, he also looked at any opportunities that might be presented. He pivoted the business into areas that gave a short-term boost but were also part of a sustainable business model for the future. The obvious pivot came with the introduction of online gaming, delivering the premium service Les A members expected whilst raising the standards of safer gambling.

There were many less obvious areas that McGowen started to explore. He and his team saw opportunities to serve their ultra-high-net-worth members in different ways. First came the advent of the Essential travel brands, offering a mix of concierge service, business travel and holidays that would be crucial once the world opened up post-pandemic. Then came an exploration of new technology in areas such as cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which were both a neat way of showing members that the casino was in step with them and also about futureproofing itself. Finally, there was a chance to open the restaurant at 6 Hamilton Place to the public and use The Palace at Hamilton Place for select events. The makings of the Group were in place.

But it was in the approach to the WorkFamily that the true evolution came. Many of those staff on furlough started to work on their own projects. Some baked, others developed products such as candles, while some volunteered for organizations close to their hearts. McGowen was inspired. He wanted to harness this entrepreneurial spirit and he also realized that the WorkFamily had a desire to develop new skills.

Closer to home, more than one third of AG staff received earnings increases from October 2022, reflecting an increase of up to 25 percent.

When McGowen hired Damestani, who had previously headed the National Casino Forum (NCF), to be AG’s head of corporate affairs, they both recognized that they had something special in these diverse parts of the business and an opportunity to package it into a unique offering. So, with a newly energized workforce, and a management team with a clear vision, they set about changing the world of gambling by placing an emphasis on raising standards and good causes alongside the casino.

Corporate philanthropy

When the Group came together in February 2022 there had already been many high-level discussions about how to shape their corporate philanthropy and community engagement. “It is one thing to raise money but it is entirely another to ensure it is donated in a meaningful way,” says Damestani. “We are based in London’s Mayfair, where people see the high-end shops and expensive restaurants. But there is another part to our local community which is now being impacted by the high cost of living. So we wanted to help good causes locally, nationally and internationally. We also wanted to boost support for safer gambling, which speaks to the casino which is at the heart of the Group. And we wanted to push entrepreneurial causes and provide support across myriad areas for the betterment of society which includes all aspects of health — mental, physical, and so much more.”

The answer was to define four areas around which to concentrate AG’s corporate philanthropy and community engagement: mental health and wellbeing, education, safer gambling and our community. By organizing its efforts in this way, AG can make a meaningful difference, grow and share its learnings, and deliver key campaigns throughout the year whilst also supporting charities and causes on an ad-hoc basis.

It is all very well doing all these things but they also needed to be communicated to the wider world. A new Ambassadeurs Group website was created as the main vehicle to update the progress made.

All website content dovetails with the newly created quarterly Philanthropy newsletter, which is sent out to the WorkFamily and will be sent to AG’s strategic alliances. These already include one with the Playground Theatre, which combines productions with outreach projects in West London; Cool Earth, which is being promoted by the Essential brands and aims to help indigenous people protect the rainforests; and the Felix Project, which uses surplus food to feed school children in London.

According to Damestani, more alliances will be announced throughout 2023. “Through alliances we show we are targeting donations to make a clear difference. There is a rigorous application process to ensure alliances match our core aims and fit the criteria we have set out to the board.”

Paying it forward starts at home

For Damestani and McGowen, none of the Group’s achievements in corporate philanthropy or raising standards would be possible without the support of the WorkFamily. The 300 or so staff were – and continue to be – at the heart of the Group’s drive and determination to give back, getting behind fundraising initiatives such as the Summer of Sharing, Safer Gambling Month (instead of only a Week), and the 24 Days of Christmas, which members support.

In return the WorkFamily continue to be encouraged to upskill. The most high-profile initiative is the creation of the Ambassadeurs Academy, which aims to make learning and upskilling available to all regardless of the job currently done or any academic achievements. There are also opportunities for career progression through the Executive Development Program (EDP) at University of Nevada-Las Vegas. This best-in-class professional development plan takes industry high-fliers through an intensive nine-day program. It was recently attended by Les A’s Sandra Rodrigues, head of gaming, and Nisrine Mignon, head of business development. This commitment to developing key members of the team – particularly women in what remains a maledominated industry – has resulted in a stable, loyal and diverse team.

As Damestani explains: “They work hard for us. We work hard to ensure that their working conditions and the opportunities they get are second to none.” Between them, the WorkFamily speaks 37 languages and represents 45 nationalities. They are in roles that include croupiers and pit bosses in the prestigious Les Ambassadeurs Club, chefs in the restaurant at 6 Hamilton Place, and event coordinators in Hamilton House. Some of these roles are part of the nighttime economy, which means staff work between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. And some of the roles are in hospitality, a sector that typically has the highest proportion of jobs paying the minimum wage.

In October 2022, as the UK battled a rising cost-ofliving, the Group responded with a pay package that primarily affected kitchen and hospitality staff – the heart-of-house – who are disproportionately impacted by rising cost-of-living challenges across the UK. The increase took basic pay from £9.50 an hour, then the lowest rate paid by the Group to workers, to £12 an hour, a new standard for the living wage, and internally known as the Living Wage PLUS. The wage rise is some £2.50 an hour above the National Minimum Wage of £9.50 an hour and £1.76 above the new national level that comes into place in 2023. The rates represent almost £3,000 more per year in the UK than the standard rate across the country.

This pay rise has everything to do with the Group’s core aims. “We pride ourselves on being innovative,” says Damestani. “The bumper pay rise will be boosted by the additional benefits that come to all AG WorkFamily staff through good causes campaigns, which are driven by the generosity of our customers. They include the 2022 Summer of Sharing campaign which delivered £300,000 in contributions to good cause-focused education groups. Initiatives such as these are designed to provide benefits to generous club members, external good causes and the entire WorkFamily.

“Our approach has been described as ‘leveling-up in action’ because it goes so far beyond other employers in the hospitality sectors.”

For Damestani, McGowen and the wider AG WorkFamily, they are rightly proud of their achievements in 2022. But they are now focused on building on these for in 2023. “As a Group we are mindful that we operate one of the world’s most prestigious casinos. For many who work with us, it is the pinnacle of their career in the gambling industry – and we have a high staff retention rate to back this up.

“We recognize, however, that the world is changing. The pandemic years proved that if we don’t reinvent how we work, reimagine how the business operates, invest in good people, and give them opportunities, we will lose our competitive edge and lose very good people. By doing all this we are able to back good causes, help raise standards, and build better futures.” www.ambassadeurs.com