Strategic Advisory

The most consequential decisions in any project are made before there is anything to design. Which site, program, or brand, and whether to build at all: these questions shape everything that comes after, and the cost of getting them wrong compounds at every stage.

“Strategic advisory starts by understanding what success means to the client. Our role is to test that ambition against the market, the place and the realities of delivery, then turn it into a clear vision that can guide every decision that follows.”

Paul Boldy,

Associate Principal, Hospitality

Strategic Advisory is how OBMI works alongside developers, investors, and operators, when the choices with the greatest influence are still open, often before a site has been selected or a brief fully defined. Rather than presenting a recommendation and stepping back, we work through the decision with the client.

This is collaborative, data-led work. The questions we ask have been refined over decades, and the answers direct what analysis should follow. We weigh ambition against what the market and place can realistically support, comparing opportunities and considering the commercial, operational, and design implications. For existing assets, we help determine whether the greatest value lies in retaining, repositioning, or reimagining what is already there.

What makes our approach different is that design thinking is present from the outset. Our designers sit alongside the advisory team from the first conversation, testing whether the vision can become a compelling guest experience, a coherent brief, and a realistic program. This connection between strategy and design means a project's intent is built into its foundations rather than added later.

Nine decades of hospitality have taught us to see early whether a project will hold together or quietly come apart. A client leaves with a clear report, along with drawings or renderings, and, critically, a decision they can defend, because they made it alongside us.