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Employee Profile - David Edney

14th March 2025

We catch up with Head Butler David Edney on him and his role at Goodwood since he joined in 1997.

Name:

David Edney

Position:

Head Butler

When did you start:

2nd June 1997

Where did you work before:

QE2, Wind Spirit, Renaissance Cruises

Why you love your job:

It’s a joy to work in such a beautiful house, seeing the guests faces when they enter the house for a wedding or any other event. This makes my job all worthwhile. I work alongside an amazing team of people striving to maintain the highest standards possible. I’m always looking to push the boundaries and go the extra mile to deliver an unforgettable customer experience.

Key Achievement or something you are proud of:

All the Revivals and Festival of Speed weekends are amazing weekends serving up 1600 guests on the Saturday, and training all the staff. It’s always an amazing feeling at the height of dinner seeing all the plates coming from the kitchen, seeing the guests being served a bit like at a ballet.

I organised a skills exchange which included Stanstead House, Petworth House, Blenheim, Highclere, Royal Yacht Squadron, The International Butler Academy in Holland, Buckingham Palace, The British Pullman. When it all comes together, the Goodwood Values all come through to our guests from our staff.

It’s a joy to work in such a beautiful house, seeing the guests faces when they enter the house.
David Edney

Day to day life at Goodwood

Every day is like a first day for me, each event is unique. The weddings are extra special as it brings everyone together for the most important day in their lives and it’s a privilege to a part of it. I still get goosebumps when the Bride and Groom come up the drive.

I had never announced anyone one before to speak after dinner, the first 3 people I announced were Sir Rannulf Fiennes, Sir Alan Wicker and Sir Seb Coe. Growing up I remember seeing these faces on the Telly.

A funny story was when the Bride and Groom walked back down the aisle, the shoes the Groom weas wearing, the sole had come completely off so there and then I gave him my shoes, luckily he was size 9.

Seeing the guests faces when they walk in the Ballroom for dinner is overwhelming and it’s a job to ask them to sit down sometimes, everyone is taking photos of the room set up.

A lot of our casual staff are students and start at 16, it’s great to see them go through college and university building some great life skills and character building for the future.

Sum up your role in paragraph

While at Buckingham Palace I worked with each area and learnt a lot, they had an event each day, one was afternoon tea for 9000 people in the garden, the Royal tent was for a hundred people and we washed the teapots up behind the tent afterwards ! Some of our team visited them and experienced how they worked and they came to us.

There is also an amazing team that make the magic happen, they are the planners and chefs. My colleges Enda, Butler, David Smith, Junior Butler and our fantastic cleaner Michal all led by our amazing House manger Shelley Hoath. Nearly 28 years and still it’s the Best Company in the world to work for, and it’s a privilege to have job here as Head Butler at Goodwood House.