UK
Fortnum & Mason apologises for Paralympians party ‘snub’
Fortnum & Mason has apologised to Paralympians who were not invited to an after-party for Olympians after the King met Paris medallists at Buckingham Palace.
The famous upmarket London department store said it was “truly sorry” and blamed a “failure of communication” for the omission.
Team GB and Paralympics GB athletes were at the palace on Thursday to celebrate their success in Paris this summer.
But visually impaired sprinter Zac Shaw said he had not received an email to the after-party after an Olympian friend of his mentioned the event to him.
Fortnum & Mason is one of London’s most famous department stores. Pic: PA
His partner, Paralympic sprinter Ali Smith, also searched her emails but could not find an invite – so the pair assumed it was only for Olympians.
Mr Shaw, who won silver in the mixed 4x100m and bronze in the 100m T12 in Paris, said it was “hurtful” and showed how the two sets of athletes are treated differently.
He said: “For me yesterday being under the same roof as the King and all the Olympic and Paralympic medallists and in one place, but the Paralympic medallists have to get in the car and drive home while the Olympic medallists get to enjoy a four-hour after-party with champagne bottles with their name engraved into it. It’s just unfair.”
A spokesman for Fortnum & Mason apologised and said a separate event for Paralympians was “in the works” and would be announced soon, according to a screenshot on Mr Shaw’s Instagram.
“We are really sorry that we could not do both of the planned parties together, which would have been our preference, but we are restricted on space and simply could not have fitted everyone in at the same time,” the message said.
“However, there has been a failure of communication on our part here and we are truly sorry. We really hope to make it up to you when we get everyone together to celebrate.
“Thank you for your patience and we will get back to you personally with the details soonest.”
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But Mr Shaw said the response was “not good enough at all” and made it worse. He said he had contacted the store privately at first but went public when it did not respond.
A later statement from Piccadilly-based Fortnum & Mason – which is over 300 years old – said it had “good intentions” but admitted it had made a mistake.
It added: “We have been planning for, and of course will be honoured to host, a ParalympicsGB celebratory event at Fortnum’s and an invitation to do that has been made, but we do understand the hurt we have caused by not making our plans clear to the athletes earlier.”