Just a bit of 'competitor business' bashing...
List of Life, originally 'Polestars', are a leading supplier of party events to be delivered across the UK. They were the specialist company offering Hen Party Life Drawing to the larger events company, ChilliSauce and may still have that working relationship.
Since 2012 I have been contacted on many occasions by initially Polestars and more recently the rebranded List Of Life (why the need for the re-brand one wonders...). They have asked me to supply either a model or a tutor for life drawing for hen parties in Cardiff or Swansea.
They ONLY ever used us when they were desperate. We were the last choice as we demand a proper rate of pay. It's almost as if they think people want to do this work so much that they would do it for next to nothing.
Here is an ad they placed recently on gumtree
£20 an hour is not appropriate for this kind of work. The MINIMUM ought to be circa £30 an hour and I would not now take on this work unless it was paid at £45 an hour. After all, the hens are paying somewhere in the region of £35pp and so a group of fifteen generate a good deal of income.
I remember turning up to tutor a session at Holiday Inn for Polestars some time ago and upon arrival there was a man who looked like a rabbit caught in the bright headlights of a car. He had never modelled before and was clearly terrified. I had a chat with him and sent him home from that job, choosing to tutor and model myself. Luckily I had a photographer with me and she doubled as a tutor too. Shocking service levels by Polestars and showing no duty of care to a new employee.
There is a real problem with events agencies and booking agencies of all kinds. They are not skilled in the product they are selling, they want us to have no contact with the client in advance of the event, they will place staff to a job without proper knowledge of their suitability...
AND, and this is a big one - there are too many agencies. For us, by the time an original booking to a national agency has been passed onto another agency and perhaps even another after that, well, there isn't much cash left for us...
We would urge all party planners to go directly to the provider. They will get personalised content for their event, re-assurance of having chatted to those delivering the event in advance of the event, a lower pp rate and experienced staff and they will not get someone dragged in from a gumtree ad a few days prior to the event.
But, people like a simple life and so we get very little Hen Party Life Drawing work now. Most prefer to book a party weekend with one expensive booking agency that offers a wide range of options.
We now refuse to work with agencies and will only deliver to direct bookings. Saying that, if you're here and are looking for a party life drawing provider then do get in touch for a friendly bespoke quote :) You'll be pleasantly surprised at the excellent value and service levels Cardiff Life Model Collective offer :)