Chad Allan, 29, from Hadston, Northumberland, left school with no GCSEs and was down to his last £100 when he moved to Dubai. He now works as a luxury concierge, planning events for the super rich with daily client spends reaching up to £100,000.
Allan moved to the United Arab Emirates in 2017 after his sales job in London fell through, leaving him with nothing. He found a two-week job trial at a wealth management firm in Dubai on social media and spent his remaining money on a one-way flight.
From plain pasta to private jets
The job was commission-only, and after six months Allan had run out of money. He borrowed £100 from his father. A few weeks later he made his first deal of £7,000, allowing him to rent his own apartment.
Allan said: "To be honest for me it has opened my eyes to a completely different world. What I thought was rich - having nice cars and nice houses - you have got this other side of rich, for example spending £5,000 on lunch for their family."
When he first moved to Dubai, his room was so small he could touch both walls at the same time. It had no windows, and the shower had no door, so water soaked his bed and clothes every morning. He said: "I was eating plain pasta out of a carrier bag. There was a point where I was ready to give up and come home."
Spotting a gap in the market
After three years at the wealth management firm, Allan started his own luxury concierge business alongside his sales job. The idea came from a bad customer service experience when he rented a jet ski.
Allan said: "I thought, how can I be the middle man? So I started renting jet skis and then my friend said to me: 'Why wouldn't you do yachts?' Then we spiralled onto every other service."
Three years into his time in Dubai he quit the wealth management firm to run the business full time. It took off within the first year and became more profitable after a brief lull during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Six-figure bookings and VIP clients
Six years later, Allan's clients have daily spends ranging from £500 at the lower end to £100,000 at the top. His biggest single booking was a return private jet from Dubai to Ibiza costing £300,000, alongside a villa at £10,000 a night for ten nights, plus security, drivers, transfers and tables at exclusive venues.
He once arranged a table costing 500,000 AED - around £105,000 - with three hours' notice for a client in his twenties who wanted to be seated next to Grammy-winning DJ Black Coffee at Ushuaïa Dubai Harbour. Another time, a client's wife wanted a particular wine that cost about four euros a bottle, available only at a supermarket in Europe. Allan flew a staff member out to collect it and return within 24 hours.
Allan said: "Money is no object for these clients. Around the Grand Prix especially, there's no number and no negotiation. My job is to make it happen by any means."
Despite the large budgets, Allan said: "Planning proposals is still my favourite part of the job, no matter the budget. I'd rather take less of a fee and make it perfect."
