LONDON: Women hired to entertain businessmen and politicians at a men-only charity fundraising gala in London were groped, propositioned and sexually harassed at the secretive event, the Financial Times newspaper said on Wednesday.

Coming at a time of intense public debate about sexual harassment in the workplace, the report caused an immediate backlash against the Presidents Club charity, with a major corporate sponsor and a prominent beneficiary severing ties.

The Financial Times said the Presidents Club fundraising gala had been an annual fixture on London’s social calendar for years, attended by property tycoons, financiers, politicians and other powerful men. Its Charitable Trust could not immediately be reached for comment.

The newspaper sent two people undercover to work at the event held last week at the Dorchester Hotel on prestigious Park Lane, which was attended by about 360 men from business, finance and politics. About 130 women had been hired to work as hostesses at the event.

The report said the hostesses were told to wear skimpy black dresses with matching underwear and “sexy” high-heel shoes before being paraded in front of braying men.

It said they all had to sign a five-page non-disclosure agreement about the event, though they were not given copies to keep.

The Financial Times said the Presidents Club trust had two joint chairmen, London property developer Bruce Ritchie and luxury goods businessman David Meller, who also runs a chain of schools and is a non-executive board member at the ministry of education.

Reuters contacted Ritchie’s Residential Land company, Meller’s luxury goods firm Meller Designs and his educational trust to seek comment about the FT report. No one was made available to speak about it.