Who We Are

Leadership

The group is led by two partners: one who has spent two decades building and running premium hospitality concepts, and one who has spent his career scaling commercial businesses and digital products internationally.

Heather McKnight

Founding Partner — Concepts, Hospitality & Operations

Twenty years in premium hospitality across the UAE, the wider Gulf and Europe, leading concepts from first idea through pre-opening and into day-to-day operation.

Has led teams of up to 150 and worked across pre-opening and operations with Emaar Hospitality Group (La Serre), The Fat Duck Group (Dinner by Heston Blumenthal), Culinary Boutique, and brand expansion across MENA with Talabat.

Brings functional depth across operations, marketing, partnerships and team development, with formal qualifications in nutrition and health coaching and personal training.

Concept creation & feasibility
Pre-opening & project delivery
Culinary and operational standards
Health & wellness

Claudio Esposito Aiardo

Founding Partner — Growth, Commercial Strategy & Ventures

Commercial growth executive, entrepreneur, angel investor and advisor with experience across payments, fintech, SaaS, analytics and mobility.

Currently leads Mastercard's Analytics & Business Intelligence growth strategy across EEMEA, after building and scaling businesses at Google, Sprinklr and Gartner, where he was a two-time global number one sales performer.

Founder and former CEO of Carasti, the vehicle subscription pioneer he scaled across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Thailand. He leads the group's digital ventures.

Growth & go-to-market strategy
Data, analytics & AI
Digital product & venture building
International expansion

Concept sketches, menu drafts and material swatches on a travertine table

Work directly with the people who built the group.

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