“I promise to keep sustainability as a key part of our business strategy and to continually promote sustainability to our members, our partners, and our hoteliers. Through these means and through our future innovations, I think it is vital for us to play our part in a more responsible rebuild of the whole travel industry.”- Tamara Lohan
James and Tamara Lohan have all the trappings of two highly successful entrepreneurs. Tamara (50) is a languages graduate of Oxford University, while her husband (52) is a serial entrepreneur and graduate of Worthing College of Art. They both have MBEs1 for their services to tourism, a house in west London valued at over £1 million, a red Ferrari and two young children. In 2023, they sold their luxury hotel platform business, Mr and Mrs Smith, for £53 million to the Hyatt Hotels Corporation.
They met in Ibiza in 1997, where James was working as a club promoter and Tamara was running a dating agency with her mother. They founded the business, which had a turnover in 2022 of £128 million, initially as a hobby business. After a ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’ stay in a disappointing hotel, they jotted down a list of the things they wished hotel guide books contained, and the idea was born. Initially, it started as a series of hotel guidebooks with reviews written by A-list celebrity influencers. None of the publishers they approached believed they would sell, so the couple raised £180,000 and published them themselves. They sold 20,000 copies in the first three months.
The idea quickly expanded into a booking platform with over 1500 stays. The business then evolved into a club for high-profile, wealthy individuals where they could find and book the best boutique and luxury hotels in the world. It gained over 1 million members and over 1000 hotel clients, with its highly profitable revenue coming from membership fees and hotel commissions.
Not only has it been highly successful, it has been so while addressing the sustainability challenge, with the business obtaining B Corp status in 2022. While they do not own any hotels, they champion those that are engaged in sustainability and conservation initiatives, as well as those that support and sustain the communities in which they are located. Also, as Tamara acknowledges, they understand that the performance of their business is “ultimately rooted in the contentment and welfare of the people in it”, so they strive to ensure that their own staff feel part of the business, no matter where in the world they are employed, and understand the impact they have on the business as a force for good. Additionally, they have set goals for the business in terms of diversity and inclusion and are working on improving gender equity, the visibility of LGBTQ+ representation, and their support for the carers and supporters of their team, while at the same time attempting to nurture a culture of continuous learning and development. To this end, they provide opportunities for living-wage paid work placements for secondary school pupils from low-income backgrounds and offer a diversity education programme to their employees.
While they are aiming to be net zero, they are paperless, have scrapped the use of plastics in their membership programme and gift cards, and are offsetting all travel by their staff, reviewers and anyone working on their behalf by making donations to the World Land Trust and the Blue Marine Foundation,
With the sale to Hyatt, Tamara will retain her job as Chief Executive Officer, James will remain as Chief Creative Officer, and 120 of their staff will join Hyatt’s commercial service team. As Tamara says, “the acquisition means a new and exciting chapter for Mr and Mrs Smith where anything is possible”. With Tamara and James at the helm, though, it would seem that Mr and Mrs Smith will continue to exemplify corporate Harmonious Entrepreneurship. They will continue to make “As much money as possible” but not at the expense of people and planet, while addressing SDGs 10 (Reduced Inequalities) and 5 (Gender Equality), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), 13 (Climate Action), 14 (Life below Water), 15 (Life on Land) and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).
Note
- Member of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.
- The name is the one that traditionally unmarried couples have used when staying illicitly in a hotel together and not wanting to be known.
References
Prevett, H., & Clatworthy, B. (2023). Suite Success of Luxury Hotel Guide sold for £53 million. The Times. 01 May.
Wills, K. (2019). Meet the Power Couple behind Mr and Mrs Smith. Evening Standard Magazine, 8th February.
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