James founded Brandteliers after close to three decades in hospitality and destination brand strategy. His earlier career was spent at Landor and Fitch, working across Europe, the Middle East and Asia for groups including Hilton, Jumeirah, Kerzner International, Rotana and Marriott. He started the practice to work directly with the owners and developers making the decisions, without the overhead of a network agency between strategy and execution. He leads every brief.