Quintessentially co-founder talks luxury trends and building relationships.
It’s 9.30am and Ben Elliot is visibly exhausted, having arrived in Singapore in the wee hours after a whirlwind business trip through Taipei and Hong Kong in just four days. “How are you, all settled in?” he asks the waiting group. Only after we sit down does he attend to himself. “Could I get a cup of tea, please?” he asks the attendant.
To be sure, Elliot is English graciousness in an impeccable suit, the embodiment of the luxury concierge company he founded with two others and the force that helped build Quintessentially from one London office in 2000 to a massive lifestyle group with 60 offices and 2,500 employees around the world.
The group tends to requests big and small – from making a reservation at a fully booked restaurant to organising an action-packed Indiana Jones-style experience (think retrieving “treasure” in the desert and rescuing “hostages” from busy marketplaces).
In a business that relies on the strength of relationships to access experiences usually denied to the public, Elliot is well placed. He’s an insider with royal connections, the nephew of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and Prince Charles’ wife. But some requests are even beyond his and his network’s purview.
Elliot notes that he’s had to draw the line with certain clients; money can’t buy everything.
From managing the desires of the affluent, he has observed that the trend has shifted from owning goods to doing good. “It’s not just about material possessions now.
There is a huge desire to do philanthropy, and to support the contemporary arts scene.” Case in point, in 2015 he organised a fund-raiser for an elephant conservation charity, Elephant Family, started by his late uncle, travel writer and conservationist Mark Shand. The event brought 100 people together to race across Madhya Pradesh in India in rickshaws and raised £2.2 million (S$4 million).
With a clientele averaging 46 years of age, says Elliot, most have families, and value quality time and memorable experiences. In fact, the night before this meeting, he was with a Singapore-based international banker who had curated a room of over 50 photos – each preserving a moment that Quintessentially helped to orchestrate. For example, a photo of Irish rock band U2 giving his son a private guitar lesson.
Elliot is no stranger to the luxe life himself and is a living example of his observations.
