A bedroom with a wooden headboard, white bedding, a pillow, a round white marble lamp, and a framed floral art piece on the wall.

Bathroom with white walls, a uniquely shaped mirror, a marble countertop with a wooden cabinet underneath, and a small wall-mounted black light fixture.

Young woman with glasses and dark hair, sitting at a table, resting her head on her hand, looking down at papers or a book in front of her in a cozy indoor setting.

Large potted plants with broad green leaves framing a dark wooden door with glass panels leading into a well-lit interior.

Experience, Creativity & Trust

Our leadership team and ever-growing Collective model is built on trust, experience, and a shared belief in doing things well. Led by Steve Thorne, with senior input from Sean Rafter, we combine creative depth with commercial clarity, offering clients thoughtful, execution-ready solutions grounded in real-world understanding.

We’re a niche, focused group with wide-ranging backgrounds in hospitality, development, brand, and strategy. What unites us is a commitment to delivering standout results - not just ideas, but outcomes. That means every perspective is valued, every angle considered, and every detail carefully shaped.

We work transparently, collaborate openly, and take pride in our ability to think clearly in complex spaces. It’s how we like to work, with each other, our clients and partners.

Steve Thorne

Steve brings over 30 years of experience across the hospitality sector, from launching boutique hotels such as the acclaimed central London hotel The Pilgrm, to scaling luxury serviced apartment platforms such as Grosvenor House Apartments on Park Lane. His strategic insight into what drives performance - and where businesses lose momentum - underpins his approach to partnership and delivery.

With a career spanning respected brands including InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), Four Seasons, MyHotels, The Ascott Limited, and The Zetter Group, Steve offers both operational depth and commercial credibility. His background allows him to work fluently across investor, developer, and operational teams, ensuring alignment from vision through to execution.

Steve combines professional expertise with a genuine passion for creating memorable stays and believes every guest deserves a truly personal experience.

This philosophy shines through in his own rental business, which was recognised in 2025 by LUXLife Magazine with two accolades: Most Charming Country Retreat – Italy and Customer Service Excellence Award.

Sean Rafter

Sean brings a background in design-led residential development, having built a strong reputation in West London through independent ventures and joint partnerships. Now focused on hospitality, he applies his expertise in brand creation and the strategic leveraging of intellectual property to elevate hotel concepts and unlock commercial value.

As the architect and manager of the Thorne&Co Collective, Sean curates a trusted network of specialists, bringing together strategic, creative, and operational expertise to support each project from concept to delivery.