Special events have seen its customers rub shoulders with the likes of David Attenborough, the beloved BBC presenter, and Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of England.
And there is a whole team dedicated to its concierge service. Mr Flavel said: “If you need tickets, they can probably source them, if you have lost something, we will try pretty hard to find it and if you need specialist advice, they know the best in the business.”
How much does it cost to use a private bank?
Again, this varies from bank to bank and on what services you use.
Coutts charges £900 a year for one customer, taken in quarterly instalments of £225. If you have between £250,000 to £499,999 of assets with the bank this drops to £75 a quarter, and it waives the fee completely for those with £500,000 or more.
Hoare and Co charges £50 a month, as well as costs for manually sending payments or non-standard payments, like Chaps. Hampden and Co has no monthly fee for a UK account, but charges 30p for automated debit and credit transactions and for other services such as cheques and using your account abroad.
Private bank high street options
High earners also have the option to access premium bank accounts from high street banks promising a superior experience to standard current accounts.
These are considered a step down from the likes of Coutts and Hoare and Co, but there is still strict eligibility criteria.
HSBC’s Premier account is reserved for those with an annual income of at least £75,000 (paid into your HSBC account) and either a mortgage, investment, life insurance or a protection product with the bank. Alternatively if you have savings or investments of at least £50,000 with HSBC UK you can have a Premier account.
There’s no fee and benefits include worldwide travel insurance from Aviva for those under the age of 70. This also covers dependents up to 18, or 23 if they are in full-time education as well as winter sports.
As a Premier customer you’ll also have access to a choice of two credit cards, both of which give you reward points when you spend and discounted airport lounge access and hotels among benefits.
Barclays Premier account requires a minimum annual salary of £75,000 or £100,000 in savings or investments with the bank. There’s no fee for this account which comes with a range of perks like discounts on travel, dining and experiences such as spa treatments.
You will also get exclusive rates on mortgages and savings accounts and access to the premier team 24/7 by phone.
To open a NatWest Premier account you need to earn £100,000 (or £120,000 joint income) paid into your NatWest account. Alternatively you can have £100,000 savings or investments or a £500,000-plus mortgage with NatWest.
There are three Premier accounts to choose from. Premier Select is free and offers the very basics including fee-free spending on your card overseas and access to the Premier banking team.
Premier Reward costs £2 a month and on top of the Select benefits you can earn cashback of up to £10 a month by using direct debits and logging into the app each month.
The Premier Reward Black costs £31 a month and for your money you’ll get a 24/7 concierge service, airport lounge access, and worldwide travel cover on top of the other benefits.
NatWest is currently offering £200 to switch to any Premier account, using its switching service.
Santander Select is a service you can bolt onto your Santander current account if you pay in monthly income of at least £5,000 or you keep £75,000 in any Santander account (savings, current account, or investment).
This is free and gives you access to a priority phone service, access to a World Elite credit card which comes with airport lounge access and concierge services (for a monthly fee of £15). Select customers also get discounted will writing and lasting power of attorney services.
