You've got a lot of bottle, son! Trader, 23, who blew £125,000 on champagne in £200,000 bar round gets told off by his MUM

• Two waiters were needed to carry the 99lb bottle of champagne
• It was so big it was the equivalent of 40 standard bottles of bubbly
• Alex Hope also had to pay a 10% service charge - costing more than £18,500
  

By Julian Gavaghan
Created: 06:16 EDT, 7 March 2012

Celebrity friends: Alex Hope, seen partying with Desperate Scousewives star Layla Flaherty has been revealed as the trader who ran up a £203,948.80 bar bill

A self-proclaimed City whizzkid who spent more than £200,000 on Britain’s most expensive round of drinks has been criticised by his unemployed mother over his apparent night of excess.

Alex Hope, 23, who claims he has earned a fortune by trading foreign currencies, is said to have forked out £125,000 on a single bottle of champagne along with £60,408 on other beverages and a £18, 540 tip.

But his mother Tina Hope, 53, who lives in a three-bedroom terrace house in Deptford, south-east London, is shocked he could blow so much money at a time while millions of people are struggling to survive.

The 53-year-old, whose home is worth as much as her son’s bar bill, said ‘I just hope he didn’t drink it all himself.'

‘I should suppose not. He’s a very good boy. I’m surprised by all of this,’ she told the Daily Express.

Mr Hope, who lives in a Docklands apartment two miles from his mother, claims to have enjoyed a meteoric rise since leaving school.

He says he began currency trading in his bedroom and also worked on market stalls and as a burger flipper.

On his blog – alexhopefx, which has now had access restricted – he boasts: ‘Alex knows and loves the FX market. Throughout his youth, his passions were football and…currencies! 

‘At the age of 11, Alex had a deep-rooted interest in the different currencies and relished trips across Europe where he could explore this interest first hand.

‘Opening his first account with just £500, in one day he’d doubled his money and turned the £500 into £1,100 by trading gold.’

‘A talented, charismatic and thoroughly likeable man, Alex Hope exudes knowledge and you can’t help but respect and admire this self-taught and self-made young trader. Watch out trading markets, Alex Hope is kicking up a storm!

Mr Hope booked a table at the UnderGround night club at Liverpool’s Hilton Hotel and ordered the 30-litre bottle of Armand de Brignac in advance of his visit on Sunday night, according to bosses.

Bubbly hell! The £203,948 bill, including the £125,000 charge for the giant bottle of Armand de Brignac champagne (right), pictured alongside a regular bottle

He is said to have entertained celebrity guests, including Manchester City footballer Adam Johnson and Man United star Wayne Rooney’s wife Coleen.

Two waiters were needed to carry in the bulky 99lb Nebuchadnezzar-size bottle of champagne, which is the equivalent of 40 standard ones.

He also ordered 40 single bottles of Ace of Spade champagne along with £4,000 worth of Grey Goose vodka, which he handed them out to women there last night.

Mr Hope settled the bill for £203,948.80 after paying a 10 per cent service charge – worth a massive £18, 540 – on top of the £185,408.80 drinks total.

Although there is some scepticism about the receipt, which was released hours after the party, Mr Hope has been pictured with other celebrities in the past and has been seen drinking Amand de Brignac.

In January he was photographed with Desperate Scousewives star Layla Flaherty at a party in London.

Of Sunday night, one clubber said: ‘The club went wild when he popped this huge bottle of champagne, and they were handing out glasses of champagne to everyone in the VIP room.

Heavy load: Two waiters were required to carry the 99lb double Nebuchadnezzar-sized bottle

Hot spot: Inside the PlayGround nightclub at the Hilton Hotel

‘Frankly there was no way all his group would have got through the bottle on their own anyway.

‘This guy was phenomenally generous and was buying everyone in the place a drink.

‘Funny thing was though that he didn't seem to be drinking much himself and looked totally sober but he was clearly having a great time.’

Nightclub boss George Panayiotou ordered the DJ to play The Dawn of Man, the iconic anthem to the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, as the huge bottle was carried through.

The clubber added: ‘The party went off with a bang and everyone was toasting this guy's generosity.

‘He was there with about 10 friends on a private table but after the big bottle came in they were mobbed with gorgeous girls.

‘There must have been about 60 of them at any time vying for his attention and he then ordered shots for every single woman in the club.’

Venue: Outside the night club in Liverpool

Manager of the club Vasco Carealho said of Mr Hope: 'He was in the club on Saturday and he had pre-ordered the bottle. He has been to the club a couple of times.

'The fact he wanted to order something like that was unusual and it was a surprise but we welcomed it and we just created the best spectacle for the service of the bottle.'

The club has been open since December 16. 

This article was amended on 20 April to remove an incorrect suggestion that Joe hart was a guest of Alex Hope.