About James

Born and raised in the heart of Paris to French and English parents, James spent his formative years in the city of Light immersing himself in all things French before moving to the English countryside where he attended the quintessentially English Kings School Canterbury as he began his journey to becoming the English gentleman he is today.

Switzerland entered James’ life in a big way when, aged 11, he moved to Rolle where he would spend the next 7 years attending L’Institut Le Rosey as a boarder. Each winter, the school would decamp to Gstaad for the trimester as it had done each year since 1916. Like many Rosey pupils, James simply fell in love with Gstaad. James’ love affair with Gstaad was consolidated when his family decided to make a home in the center of the village 20 years ago and it has been a main feature in his life ever since.

College years were spent in Wellesley Massachusetts at Babson College (Ranked #1 School in America for Entrepreneurship). James found himself in his element specialising in Entrepreneurship and Real Estate Finance. This forever marking experience was rounded off by two summers terms spent at the London School of Economics. Family time during this period was spent at home in Miami and Nassau (Bahamas) where James deepened his appreciation of the American way of life.

Working life began straight out of college when James joined the new family hotel venture in London SW1: Eccleston Square Hotel. Creating a brand-new hotel was a highly demanding and challenging experience. James worked alongside his sister in the newly created business for 5 years.

The next professional adventure saw James move to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), followed by Iceland, in his new capacity as Special Assistant to the Chairman of one of the largest conglomerates in Malaysia, with a focus on Hotel Consulting and Acquisitions.

James came full circle when he then returned to Switzerland. After a period spent working in finance for a Swiss biomedical start-up, James returned to his true love of Real Estate, heading up an agency in Gstaad. On the back of a considerable success in Gstaad Real Estate, James inevitably decided to strike out on his own, creating James & Co. Business is frenetic and he has not looked back since…