Loh Lik Peng has successfully built a team that is able to run 5 hotels and 27 restaurants scattered across the world. I talk to him about building a team with decentralised leadership, finding unique locations for his projects and balancing passion with practicality.

Dynamic hotelier and restaurateur Loh Lik Peng (instagram: @pengloh) was born in Dublin, Ireland. He attended Law school in England, University of Sheffield and Postgraduate at London School of Economics followed by bar exams in London before returning to Singapore in 1997. Loh became a corporate litigator upon his return before leaving the profession to step into the hospitality industry. Since then, Loh has started ventures across Singapore, Shanghai and London under the umbrella of his company, ‘Unlisted Collection’. Presently, he has 27 restaurants with a combined 7 Michelin stars and 5 hotels across 6 countries.

3 things I learned:

1. Find your niche and let your passion guide you. From finding unique locations to building loyal teams, Loh is guided by a love of hotels, places and relationships over a desire to maximise profit. 
   
   
2. Decisions don’t have to make total financial sense to be the correct ones. Loh was guided by his passion in a series of projects others would find as too risky. However, it is important to strike that balance between passion projects and being able to justify your choices. 
   
   
3. Building a good team means investing in relationships. In recruiting, Loh spends time getting to know how people tick, and puts the time in to foster a ‘natural chemistry.’ It’s this approach that allows him to trust his team can manage a global network of properties.