The agent who supplied young women hostesses for the now-notorious Presidents Club men-only dinner has signed a legal agreement with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) promising to never again expose staff to such “deplorable” working conditions.



The EHRC investigated the events surrounding the January dinner, at which some of the hostesses were allegedly sexually harassed by businessmen, following complaints and outrage from MPs, including the prime minister, Theresa May, who said she was “appalled” at the way the women were treated at the event.

The EHRC said Caroline Dandridge, whose Artista agency supplied many of the young women working at the Presidents Club dinner, had agreed to make changes to her company’s policies and procedures.

It added that Dandridge did not see any of the reprehensible behaviour and noted that no formal complaints were made.

“Nevertheless, she has willingly entered into the agreement with the EHRC to ensure best practice by undertaking additional training and working with the EHRC to ensure that she has updated her policies and procedures,” the commission said.

“In particular, the agency’s processes will be designed to encourage staff to speak up if they have any concerns and to deal with incidents effectively if complaints are made.”

Dandridge said: “I remain committed to providing an appropriate working environment for all my staff and welcome the opportunity to update my policies and procedures with which the commission is assisting me.”



Rebecca Hilsenrath, the chief executive of the EHRC, said: “Employers have a clear responsibility to protect their staff. Ms Dandridge recognises this and has willingly agreed to work with us for the benefit of all of her staff. We look forward to working with her as she implements best practice for her workforce.”



Dandridge, who supplied hostesses for the Presidents Club for several years, had told the women she hired that the men at the event will be “pissed” and “annoying”.



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She told the women to wear “black sexy shoes”, black underwear and to do their hair and makeup as they were going to to a “smart sexy place”. The hostesses had been hired on the criteria that they be “tall, thin and pretty”.

Before the event, Dandridge had told the women hired for the dinner not to tell their boyfriends about it. “It’s a Marmite job. Some girls love it and for other girls it’s the worst job of their life and they will never do it again … You just have to put up with the annoying men and if you can do that it’s fine,” Dandridge told a reporter from the Financial Times who posed as a hostess.

Dandridge scrubbed the Artista’s website after the revelations and has called in the former editor of the News of the World, Phil Hall, to advise her.



The Presidents Club, which had been running for more than 30 years, closed down following the exposé.