PASSIONATE about both London and the hospitality industry, Tony Matharu is one of a kind. Along with his brothers Raj and Harpal, the trio established Grange Hotels in 1980 and went on to build a formidable portfolio of hotel assets that were estimated to be worth more than a billion just a few years ago. However the three split, with Tony going his own way and creating Blue Orchid Hospitality as a new vehicle for his hotel ambitions. Tony has gone onto make Blue Orchid one of the most dynamic hospitality groups of its time. At present, it is an enterprise with a collection of upmarket hotels, apartments, suites, residences in prime London locations. Matharu is also the founder of Integrity International Group and oversees subsidiary companies such as Global Hospitality Services and Integrity International Trust.
He is also influential in the wider business, arts and charity sector through his position on various industry bodies and charities including Oracle Head and Neck Cancer Research Trust. Most recently in February this year, it was announced that Matharu’s Integrity International Group had acquired two office buildings and had a plan to convert them both into hotels. Atlas House, a grade II-listed building and The Crescent in Tower Hill, London will now become the latest addition to Matharu’s stable of accommodation properties. The Crescent is adjacent to Tower Suites, which is already run by Blue Orchid. Matharu said about the acquisition: “Atlas House and the Crescent portfolio demonstrates our continued commitment to investing in and revitalising London property, particularly those buildings at the end of their previous lives, ensuring that London remains the best place to live, work, visit, and invest,” Matharu said. Atlas House previously belonged to Atlas Assurance Company, which has a 130-year history, while The Crescent was also home to insurance brokers.
Matharu made it plain that he was still on the lookout for similar properties. “The team at Integrity International Group has unrivalled expertise in acquiring, developing and operating first-class hospitality facilities. “We look forward to continuing to make a positive difference to central London and its world-class offering to international and domestic visitors, workers, and residential communities alike.” In July 2023, Blue Orchid unveiled Tower Residences. The property is a Victorian building that has been transformed and is described as an aparthotel with a 24-hour front desk, and has 32 units of accommodation and is designed for “independent living”. The block is just 400m from the Tower of London, one of the capital’s major tourist attractions.
Of this acquisition Matharu said: “Tower Residence is one more progressive step following our success with the multi-award winning 273 all-suites property, Tower Suites, where guests can enjoy facilities and services now ranked by visitors as some of the very best in the world.” The recent additions complement Integrity’s diverse portfolio, which encompasses luxury hotels, apartments, suites, residences, and venues.
Key properties in its expanding portfolio include the Wellington and Rochester hotels in Westminster, Tower Suites, Tower Residences, and the upcoming redevelopment of 55 Broadway into a 526-room hotel in St James’s Park. That building used to be the headquarters of London Underground.
Before founding Blue Orchid in 2019, Matharu led Grange Hotels as group managing director until its key London sites were sold to Jurys Inn (now Leonardo Hotels) in 2019. His track record includes delivering over 2,500 hotel rooms and creating 1,750 jobs throughout London. He puts his drive down to his mother – in a podcast he shared how he and his brothers were raised by her following his father’s passing at a young age.
He acknowledged that their business’s initial seed capital came from his mother, underscoring her pivotal role in their journey beginning in the 1980s. Expressing deep gratitude for her drive, resilience, and values, Matharu emphasised that their achievements were made possible by her unwavering support and ambitions for their future. Their trick, if it can be called that, was to convert empty office space into hotels – and at the end point they had 17 five and four-star hotels dotted around the capital. In March 2019, as part of the package that saw the brothers separate into two, they orchestrated a hotel deal worth £1billion selling four prized properties to Queensgate Investments. This transaction, touted as one of the UK’s largest hotel deals, included St Paul’s Grange, Grange Tower Bridge, Grange City, and Grange Holborn. For a family that commenced their journey with a single hotel in South Kensington, London, this deal marked a remarkable milestone. With no prior family business or even experience in the sector, they had become among the hospitality’s biggest movers and shakers. During the pandemic, Matharu was a very visible figure, extolling and promoting the sector in London – many of his hotels kept their doors open for health workers and provided not just accommodation and also assisted with meals and other essentials during a time of enormous upheaval.
A keen padel player – the game is a cross between squash and tennis – Matharu co-holds the Guinness World Record for the Longest Marathon playing Padel. Enduring nearly 40 hours of continuous play over two gruelling days in October, the players exemplified their determination to uplift the community. Underwriting the installation of a padel court through his companies, Matharu collaborated with the Aldgate Connect and the Eastern City business improvement districts. This initiative breathed life into a previously overlooked area near Tower Hill, providing an enticing incentive for workers to return to their workplaces while also bolstering visitor numbers in alignment with the Destination City ambitions of the City of London Corporation. “As a proud Londoner and advocate for collaborative partnerships, I am thrilled to shine a global spotlight on London as the epitome of a vibrant place to live, work, invest, visit, and study,” said Matharu.
“Our endeavours exemplify the spirit of creativity, diversity, and resilience that defines Londoners, especially in navigating challenges, including the current post-pandemic era.” Matharu was a pivotal figure in the creation of the Central London Alliance which was formed initially to deal with the challenges of the pandemic but has since gone on to become one the capital’s leading advocacy and promotion bodies. Matharu is well-known to regulars who attend the London Indian Film Festival (LIFF) – he is a keen patron of independent film and has contributed to helping both LIFF and the UK Asian Film Festival and has also helped Darbar – known as the largest gathering of Indian classical musicians outside India every year.
