Amia Ismail, 58, claims he was transferred from one Radisson Edwardian central London hotel to another because bosses wanted a new and younger image

A restaurant manager for a five-star London hotel group was told to get rid of 'ugly' older staff because bosses wanted 'young, sexy, blonde' girls 'with short skirts', an employment tribunal heard today.

Amia Ismail, 58, claims he was transferred from one Radisson Edwardian central London hotel to another because bosses wanted a new and younger image.

Mr Ismail told the hearing that he was then replaced by an attractive 28-year-old woman.

He says that while working at the Radisson Vanderbilt branch in Cromwell Road, Kensington, he was told to go to the firm's Mayfair hotel and pressure older staff to leave.

Egyptian-born Mr Ismail, who was moved from the Kenilworth hotel in Bloomsbury to the Vanderbilt in 2001, said in his witness statement: 'The Kenilworth was completely refurbished to give it a new image.

'I was told that I was going to be transferred because the new hotel needed a new and younger image and they wanted someone younger to run the restaurant.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2046528/Hotel-restaurant-manager-told-Get-rid-ugly-fat-staff--customers-want-young-sexy-blondes-short-skirts.html#ixzz1a8ce5Ww8

A smell of lucre about this one.....

That is a reasonable idea.

What's his gripe?

He wasn't sacked, he was transferred.

If the group (linked to SAS Scandinavian Airline) wanted one hotel to be attractive to the yuppies and transferred him to a more dowdy hotel, then that's because he suited the clientele better.

Hotel management is an art linked to customer wants, not employee wants.

He should realise that if he's any good at his job.

Hmmm, now if I owned a hotel and my clientel were mostly young women would I choose staff that looked like this...

or this guy?

And if my clientel were mostly men I'd be hiring gals who looked like this..

Wonder how you would feel it if it was your job on the line because of your age? So quick to throw stones?

Wonder how you would feel it if it was your job on the line because of your age? So quick to throw stones?

It was, so I left. Sometimes you have to look towards what the future might bring.

That is a reasonable idea.

Hopefully. The freedom to operate one's business without government intervention.

its a great idea...but nothing new.

I don't want an old tart serving me my drinks thanks.

Ability to do the job might sway my thoughts.

I wonder who could provide better service, the mini skirt, the bare chests or the old guy, hmmm but the half hour wait whilst they preen themselves has just gotta be worth it.

Ability to do the job might sway my thoughts.

I wonder who could provide better service, the mini skirt, the bare chests or the old guy, hmmm but the half hour wait whilst they preen themselves has just gotta be worth it.

Going back to the Sixties, or what I can remember of them, there was a very well-known fish restaurant in Soho (London - the only real Soho), in Frith Street, corner of Bateman Street. The meals were superb, the wines better.

The average age of the waiters and sommelier must have been around eighty-five, but they knew everything about their jobs, recognised each returning customer and knew what broad range of food and wine each wanted.

Can't for the life of me remember the name of the place, but it was a regular hang-out for me when living/working in the area.

Edit: 'Osbourne's' was it?

Something similar, but the haze of the sixties still surrounds a lot of my memory