About
Ten years of looking after people who have seen everything.
Gabby Koya founded A Flair to Remember after a decade running events for a global private bank and a Mayfair members’ club. AFTR Signature is the corporate side of the house.
I grew up in the countryside in the west of Ireland, the daughter of Nigerian parents, in a house where hospitality was not a word anyone used because it was simply what you did. My first proper job was in a kitchen in Biarritz, as a sous chef and then a sommelier at a Relais & Châteaux property, where I learned that the guest notices everything and forgives nothing, and that this is a perfectly reasonable way to be.
When I moved to the UK I took that into events. At Lloyds I ran wealth and private banking client events with an annual budget of more than five million pounds, for people who could dine anywhere in the world and expected us to give them a reason not to. At Crown Aspinalls in Mayfair I ran sales and events for a private members’ club whose members were among the wealthiest people in the world, and where the quality of an evening was the whole business.
A Flair to Remember began as a way to bring that standard to private clients. AFTR Signature is the corporate side of the house: the same team, the same standards, built for companies who are judged by how they host. I lead every project personally and I am in the room on the night. I still taste the menu and check the wine, partly because I am a certified sommelier and mostly because I cannot help it.
When I am not working I am usually cooking for too many people, travelling with my husband and our two sons, or in the south of France, where I run a small wine business. I am lucky to do work I love. If you are hosting something that matters, I would be glad to talk it through.
Gabby KoyaFounder and Creative Director
Career in brief
- Founder and Creative DirectorA Flair to Remember and AFTR Signature
- Sales and Events ManagerCrown Aspinalls, Mayfair
- Events Marketing ExecutiveLloyds Bank, wealth and private banking
- Sous chef and sommelierRelais & Châteaux, Biarritz
- Certified wine sommelierDegree in hospitality management
The team behind the evening.
AFTR Signature is deliberately small at the top and well resourced underneath. A senior producer leads each project alongside Gabby, supported by our in-house production team and a network of partners we have worked with for years: chefs, florists, lighting designers, technical crews, entertainers and venue teams who answer our calls at eleven at night.
Surrey, London and wherever you are hosting.
Our office is in Surrey and most of our work is in London. We produce events across the UK and Ireland, and further afield in Europe and Africa, where years of being invited behind the scenes by venues and tourism boards in Portugal, Italy, Switzerland and India mean we know who to call. Several of our clients are based overseas, and we are used to planning by video call and email across time zones.
What our partners say
“The attention to detail of the AFTR team is impeccable.”[Partner name, company]
“Gabby’s planning and organisation skills are second to none.”[Partner name, company]
“I always have an excellent experience working with Gabby and the AFTR team.”[Partner name, company]
Tell us what you are hosting.
A few lines is enough to begin. We reply personally within one working day, and the first conversation is an hour of our time at no charge. If the date is close, say so and we will call you the same day.