Manners maketh millionaires

LONDON, Nov 11 (Reuters) For international executives navigating the minefield of corporate politics, help is at hand -- impeccable British manners can clinch that big deal.

So says etiquette expert Diana Mather who yesterday launched a weekend house party at a Scottish castle for businessmen, academics and diplomats eager to prove the 14th century proverb ''Manners Maketh Man.'' As well as traditional country house pursuits such as clay pigeon shooting, bridge and formal Scottish dancing, participants will be tutored in the finer arts of charm and proper etiquette -- all in the name of good business.

''This unique weekend provides the ideal setting for learning international protocol as well as the essentials of what it takes to become a lady or gentleman,'' Mather says.

The British fear their once famously polite nation is now more renowned for binge drinking and loutish behaviour than for the popular image of rolled umbrella and stiff upper lip.

''Some young British people are the worst behaved in the world,'' says Mather, a former actress and BBC presenter, but she insists the old values will endure, reflecting the motto of the great churchman William of Wykeham that manners maketh man.

THE GOLD STANDARD ''The English gentleman is still viewed as the most gentlemanly in the world. They are the gold standard. British manners are the passport to success in the boardroom.'' Her protocol crash course takes place in a 15th century medieval castle in a remote and wind-swept part of Scotland.

''Out of their comfort zone, they get to know each other better and tend to bond,'' Mather said of Lickleyhead Castle in Aberdeenshire with its great hall, four poster beds and wood panelled library.

''We learn how to conduct business abroad and how to navigate corporate politics,'' she said.

With thriving economies like India taking on the West, Mather has tapped into a burgeoning market of businessmen eager to understand and copy the gold standard of good manners.

''If the Japanese want to learn Western behaviour they would prefer to learn from the British,'' she told Reuters at the start of the weekend.

The tycoons of the East and the new generation of Russian oligarchs could also benefit from the study of British manners, Mather says, seeing new business opportunities for herself.

''We are just about to start with classes in China and I would also like to get into the Russian market. They suddenly have a fantastically wealthy middle class which has never travelled before.'' REUTERS BDP ND0854