Matt Morley finished his schooling in Paris between 1999-2000 where he studied French literature and philosophy at La Sorbonne. He then moved on to University College, London to study a joint honours degree in European History and Italian.

As a student, Matt worked on numerous front of house restaurant teams before joining Quintessentially in their UK headquarters as Business Development Manager for France, Italy and Benelux while still at university. He successfully pitched, negotiated and managed contractual agreements with more than 100 top hotels, clubs, spas and designer boutiques within his geographic domain.

Matt then moved to Milan where he completed a Masters course in Communication, Marketing and Design at the European Design Institute (IED); his end of year project – a marketing strategy for the Piquadro luggage brand – was awarded the class honours. Whilst in Milan, Matt worked as an assistant to Matteo Cassano, a highly regarded Milanese event organiser who counted the Four Seasons Hotel, Roberto Cavalli and Alain Mikli Eyewear amongst his corporate clients.

In 2005, once out of further education, Matt joined Piers Schmidt at strategic consultancy Luxury Branding in London as a freelance assistant. Here he honed his research, analysis, writing and presentation skills on projects for the Dorchester Collection, Armani Hotels & Resorts and One&Only Resorts, amongst others.

Also in 2005 Matt was asked by a Russian media entrepreneur to conceptualize and launch a bi-lingual Anglo-Russian lifestyle magazine for distribution to wealthy Russian speakers outside of Russia. Going on to become Founding Editor of the quarterly publication now known as VeryVery, Matt has led the magazine through no fewer than 19 issues in total and “V V” continues to dominate its particular niche in the European market.

When the Luxury Branding business re-located to South Africa in 2007, Matt moved to Corporate Edge in London, an integrated branding, marketing and creative agency, where he worked full-time as a Creative Strategist. Here he developed a strong relationship with the Chairman, Chris Wood, with whom he ran a number of hospitality, real estate and wellness projects such as the creation of an innovative new budget hotel concept for Travelodge UK, the branding and identity of a US$1bn mixed-use development in Cape Verde (West Africa) and a strategic portfolio review for European spa brand Montagne Jeunesse.

Upon being offered a full-time Strategist position at Luxury Branding in Cape Town in February 2008, two years before the World Cup and in an emerging luxury market, Matt decided to relocate south. Here he became immediately involved in the conceptualization of an ultra-exclusive spa retreat brand for a team of investors based in Singapore, the marketing strategy for the Al Futtaim Group’s Dubai Festival City and the definition of a new, Irish-owned ‘boutique deluxe’ hotel brand for the European market.

Matt later went on to run the account for The Orchards, Fresnaye – an upscale residential real estate development in Cape Town that required concept definition and a marketing and sales strategy. He also project managed the creation of a visual identity, website build and all marketing collateral for the client, taking care of all copywriting himself.

In June 2009, Matt helped launch and then became Commercial Director of the Southern Africa Luxury Association (SALA) at the request of Piers Schmidt, the Association’s Chairman and its CEO Ms. Silvana Bottega. His role involved media relations, membership sales, brand partnerships, sponsorship sourcing, member management and working on an annual research study into the luxury industry in South Africa.

Having previously written for Mr&MrsSmith.com, travelintelligence.com, viewlondon.co.uk and Esquire magazine (UK), Matt currently contributes freelance articles on travel and luxury lifestyle to GQ magazine (SA) and Opulent Living magazine (SA). He is also a regular contributor on hotels, restaurants, spas and watches for Business Day’s Wanted magazine (SA), part of the Financial times Group.

In December 2010, Matt assumed the role of Brand Manager at Porto Montenegro, a new mega-yacht harbour and mixed-use development on the shores of Kotor Bay in Montenegro. www.portomontenegro.com