Yossi Gluck // Next Level Events London Ltd

I was born in London. I learned in Bobov cheder and then went to Ohel Torah Yeshivah Ketanah here in Stamford Hill. My father is a Chernobyl chasid, and he worked for the chevrah kaddisha in London for the last 27 years. They have a company called Carmel Funeral Services that takes care of all of the levayos, which is interesting because I feel like my job is the opposite: it’s celebrating life. My mother is from Antwerp. She’s a shadchan. My mother makes the shidduch, I plan the simchah, and my father takes care of the end.
“I am the third of ten children. Growing up, I don’t think I was particularly entrepreneurial. I was probably involved in selling some things when I needed to be. I would bind sefarim when I was in yeshivah ketanah. I liked learning; I was a typical yeshivah bachur.
“I would do odd jobs during bein hazmanim and help out in the sukkah shop before Sukkos, but that ended when I went to learn in Eretz Yisrael. I learned in Emek Hatalmud for two and a half years, and then I went to the Mir, where I learned in Rav Goldman’s chaburah for two years.
“I didn’t work at all when I was at the Mir. My father asked to come with him a few times for a levayah when he needed some help, but I never went; it’s not for me. My brother did it, but I couldn’t do it.
“I got married soon after returning from Israel; my wife is also from London. I got married around Purim time and learned in kollel in London. I had a morning chavrusa and an afternoon chavrusa until I figured out what I wanted to do. Until today, despite my busy schedule, I try to keep to my very early morning shiur at 6:10 with Reb Yoely Friedman as well as my evening chavrusa.
I began to think about starting a business. I wanted to do something that had not been done in London before.
“I called my brother-in-law Hillel Lichtenstein, who owns NES security and works with high-end clients, and asked what he thought about going into arranging high-end events. I always liked fancy events. I had an eye for detail and paid attention to nice things. Even when I was in yeshivah, I remember going to Shabbos meals and seeing simple plasticware on the table and thinking to myself, ‘I can do better than this.’ Even if I was just going away with bachurim for Shabbos, I always made sure we chose nicer things for the table because I wanted it to look like a real Shabbos table, not a random Tuesday night. When I would go to weddings, I felt like people were spending so much money on mediocrity. I knew I could do it better, so I wanted to open a business based on that idea.
“My brother-in-law introduced me to someone who managed a high-end whiskey shop and held an annual event in a hotel where people would come and taste various types of whiskeys. I wanted to know if there was someone who was in charge of these sorts of “high-end events.” The manager of the whiskey event shop said that people always reach out to him for planning, but that there wasn’t a proper all-inclusive event planner in London to cover it all. I went and observed the event, the process and what it looked like.
“Funnily enough, when I was at the whiskey event, I was approached by my cousin David Lubelski, who manages the JTrade exhibition show in London for Ari Feferkorn. He asked me what I was doing, and I told him that I was thinking about getting into the event industry. He offered me a sales job for JTrade and to help them with the actual event planning on the side. I liked sales too, and I thought it was a good opportunity.