When the pandemic emptied London’s streets and silenced its theatres, cafes, and bars, it revealed a truth often overlooked: the city’s vitality depends as much on human mobility as on the grandeur of its architecture. Few understood this more viscerally than Tony Matharu, the British property developer and entrepreneur whose work spans hotels, hospitality groups, and community initiatives.

“My initial interest in starting a business,” Matharu recalls, “began as a small seed that germinated in an environment created and nurtured by my mother who encouraged me to start something of my own, since there was no family business existing.” That first venture blossomed into a chain of 18 hotels in central London. Growth brought new opportunities and challenges: ultimately a difference of vision and ambition with minority shareholders led Tony to restructure, step away, and embark on a fresh chapter unencumbered by constraints imposed by others. From that transition emerged the Integrity International Group and its multi award winning Blue Orchid Hospitality subsidiary, models of resilience and long-term strategic thinking.

Matharu says his philosophy mirrors that of Warren Buffett: thinking long-term and ‘planting trees.’ The benefits of shade and protection others enjoy, he notes, come from investments nurtured over time. In practical terms, this means patient, deliberate growth: acquiring sites, navigating planning, developing buildings, stabilising income streams and creating long term value. These are stages measured not in quarters but in years. 

The arrival of COVID-19 provided an unexpected test of this philosophy. Central London’s vibrancy is predicated on movement: office workers commuting, tourists wandering, theatre-goers gathering, diners circulating. Without that mobility, the city’s economy stalled. “Just take the Square Mile,” Matharu explains, “five or six hundred thousand people coming into that one square mile every day… when they’re not coming in, there’s an impact… the whole infrastructure shudders to a halt.”

In response, he founded Here to Help London, a charitable initiative aimed at alleviating lockdown hardships, which then evolved into the Central London Alliance, a community interest company. It was a recognition that the private sector, particularly hospitality, has obligations beyond profit. “When you start a business, you’re part of a multifaceted interdependent community,” Matharu notes. Hotels, pubs, and restaurants are not mere commercial entities; they are nodes in a social network, providing employment, culture, and cohesion.

Matharu’s reflections extend beyond London’s streets to the broader ethos of entrepreneurship. Public goodwill, he observes, has the capacity to sustain cities in ways government interventions cannot. From the volunteers of London 2012 to the frontline responders applauded during the pandemic, civic spirit underpins resilience. “Human beings are generally well meaning and public spirited… but sometimes this gets pushed to the background.” His vision for business is similarly integrative: profitability should serve society, not merely shareholders.

This sense of social responsibility is rooted in Matharu’s personal values, particularly the Sikh principle of seva – “doing something positive for somebody or some group of people every day without seeking self-benefit or self-aggrandisement.” He has woven this ethos into his business philosophy, seeing no contradiction between generating profit and promoting social good. “Many people regard doing good as good for business… but if you’re still doing good, that’s a positive thing, even if individual or collective rewards might also result” he notes. In a city that thrives on mobility, diversity, and culture, such an approach may be the most sustainable investment of all. “Entrepreneurs just want the right environment to create and scale their businesses and to generate value. It’s not too much to ask, is it?”

Sustainability has also become a strategic priority. In an era of carbon-conscious development, Matharu favours retrofitting over demolition wherever feasible. “The local planning authorities are now adopting a retrofit-first approach… rather than demolish and destroy, one can take benefit from the quality of the historic fabric and materials.” The decision is never binary: market needs, regulations, and building characteristics determine whether retrofitting is viable, but the guiding principle remains – extract life from existing structures before creating new ones.

For aspiring entrepreneurs, Matharu offers practical counsel. Understanding demand and aligning supply is fundamental. If you understand the market’s needs and can meet them profitably, you’ve solved the first puzzle of entrepreneurship.” Equally critical is removing obstacles. “Anything that quells or inhibits ambition is counterproductive and you need a “stable and certain environment to stimulate and reward risk.” Excessive taxation, complex regulations, and volatile policy environments can discourage investment and scaling. Matharu does not mince words: “Why take risks, borrow lots of money, invest your time and other resources, when at the end all of that the value you have created and possibly more will simply be removed and given to the tax man?” Business rates, stamp duties, and inheritance taxes can collectively erode the rationale for growth, prompting entrepreneurs to scale back or sell, reducing employment and competition in the process.

Undeterred by these pressures, Matharu is advancing a robust pipeline of developments. He is developing another all suite apartment hotel in the City of London, with a hundred apartments, alongside a boutique Grade II-listed hotel near Guildhall and Bank, complete with spa and pool. He has also secured a site in St James’s Park for over 500 rooms with extensive facilities. “I have at least five years of development in place and I am determined to continue, although the environment is more challenging than I can ever remember,” he admits.

The challenges he cites are not abstract. London’s hospitality sector faces disproportionate burdens: business rates for hotels in the UK are set to increase by an average of 115% and more in London, according to UK Hospitality, while restaurants, venues and pubs have also faced steep rises. Energy costs, employment taxes, increased employment regulation, and other regulatory measures compound the strain. Matharu sees these pressures as potentially calamitous. “UK hospitality is on the brink – approximately six hospitality businesses are set to go under every day. Independent operators are disappearing, leaving the field to global brands who do not have the same community and long term interests as independent concerns and especially family owned businesses, and they do not have to factor in or consider inheritance taxes, for example. We need to do far better.” Inheritance tax is critical looming threat. “If 20% to 40% of your total asset base is subject to inheritance tax as a result of the proposed removal of business property tax relief, it becomes the opposite of scaling. Heirs would potentially be forced to sell and break up carefully curated businesses. This affects independent family-owned enterprises just like the farmers where careful assembly and stewardship of assets is being punished by the removal of agricultural property tax relief. Many are rightly alarmed – without intervention, we face disaster: reduced investment, scaled-back operations, and fewer jobs with less money in the Treasury coffers.” With the UK’s wealthiest being driven to Dubai and elsewhere to avoid what they consider is a punitive tax regime, “what’s left is 100% of nothing” and zero tax receipts from those future and past wealth creators.

Yet, despite these hurdles, Matharu remains committed to the long game. His investments are calculated, patient, and informed by both commercial and social principles. “I’m still sticking to the Warren Buffett articulated long-term plans,” he says, underscoring the interplay between vision and pragmatism. His portfolio exemplifies how entrepreneurship can combine profit, sustainability, and community engagement – if given the right environment. “Entrepreneurs are typically survivors –  we are used to being flexible, hardy and resilient. We are used to managing risk and the volatility imposed by the global order, but we could do without incoherent and unnecessary domestic disturbance.”

For the next generation of entrepreneurs, Matharu’s advice is clear: understand your market, anticipate demand, invest thoughtfully, and embed social and environmental considerations into your business model. Yet he cautions that ambition alone is insufficient; external conditions – the fiscal, regulatory, and social environment – must enable growth. “You need stability and less uncertainty to stimulate ambition… once you’ve got the ambition, then you need the opportunity and the right environment to flourish”

In many ways, Matharu embodies the duality of London itself: resilient and innovative, yet vulnerable to policy shifts and economic shocks. His career traces the arc from small beginnings to large-scale operations, always anchored by a long-term philosophy and a belief in community responsibility. Whether refurbishing a historic hotel or fostering public engagement during lockdown, his work illustrates that entrepreneurship is as much about stewardship as expansion.

As London navigates post-pandemic recovery, his reflections are a reminder that business, society, and environment are intertwined. The commercial and economic logic of scaling runs directly counter to policies that discourage investment, he warns. Without supportive policies, independent businesses will falter, diversity will shrink, and employment will decline. Yet with vision, patience, and the right incentives, entrepreneurs like Matharu can continue to plant trees whose shade will benefit many – a lesson for London, and perhaps for any city seeking to combine economic vitality with social cohesion.

Matharu insists that the UK must do better. “The government may have backtracked on certain plans but a decisive U-turn is still needed on the ‘21^st Century window tax’ which is today’s business rates regime and on the proposed removal of business property rates relief/inheritance tax – and it can be done without embarrassment. In a shifting global order, we have the opportunity to rethink our approach, adapt our priorities, and create a framework that supports growth rather than stifles it. That is the change I would like to see.”