POWER and money were as much on display at the Chelsea Flower Show yesterday as ingenious water features and new breeds of rose.

With more FTSE 100 chairmen and chief executives at the show’s gala evening than any other social event of the year, it has emerged as the hottest corporate ticket for the City’s elite.

Tickets costing between £250 and £750 a head are oversubscribed up to five times as movers and shakers vie with each other for the unrivalled opportunity of forging new business alliances and setting the foundations for millions of pounds worth of deals.

One senior executive commented: “Anybody who is anybody goes and everyone is there on the same night. I can meet about 80 chief executives and chairmen and talk to them all. It is the most important event in the year and saves me so much time.”

Stephen Bennett, the Royal Horticultural Show’s director, started the gala evenings six years ago and they became an overnight success, helping Chelsea to overtake Ascot and Wimbledon in the social calendar.

Its key advantage, he said, is the show’s proximity to the City and the decision to exclude press and television from the event, so allowing the captains of industry privacy.

“A hell of a lot of business is done here on Monday night,” he said. “It’s easily several hundred million pounds’ worth. The ‘suits’ get here after work in the City and their wives love it. Unlike other corporate events it’s not for sport.

“If you are a chief executive or chairman of a big company and you aren’t here, your wife will kill you.”

Merrill Lynch has been sponsoring the Chelsea Flower Show for five years and is delighted with the business it has generated. Richard Royds, managing director of the UK arm of Merrill Lynch, said: “We entertain 3,000 clients through the week and they love it,” he said.

“We sponsor the gala nights and that’s the must-come event of the season. It opens the season and is the sort of event that FTSE chairmen and chief executives come to.” The opening night has always been a hotbed of City gossip. Last year’s gala sparked a huge row between City rivals Stuart Rose and Philip Green while in 2003 many were aghast as news reached them at the event that GlaxoSmithKline had been defeated in a board meeting vote on remuneration. It was rumoured that this had only happened because senior executives, who might have prevented it, were too busy schmoozing to attend.

The Square Mile may have seen belt-tightening and a purge on jobs in recent years, but sumptuous champagne and lobster receptions are regarded as essential to retain clients and woo new ones.

The rest of the week at Chelsea will continue with an orgy of lavish corporate entertaining. Companies such as KPMG, Deutsche Bank, Rothschild, Lazard, Credit Suisse and Reuters are splashing out tens of thousands of pounds each.

David Hesketh, managing director of Laurent-Perrier (UK), invited 70 clients to the gala night followed by dinner at Claridges. Members of the de Nonancourt family, which founded Laurent, travel from France to attend. He said: “Chelsea is important in that it kicks off the season. It gives us the opportunity to entertain some key customers. It’s about building relationships.”

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