Osterley Advisers
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Who we are

A partnership twenty-five years in the making.

Osterley Advisers was founded by partners who have known and worked alongside one another for twenty-five years, across London, the Gulf and China.

The backgrounds are deliberately complementary — corporate affairs and government relations; cross-border capital and relationships; finance and geopolitics — under a single senior team. Every mandate is led and delivered by the team.

The work is discreet and reserved for the projects that matter. We are measured by standing in the market over time, not by activity.

We built Osterley because too few advisers could help ambitious companies build the relationships, regulatory standing and reputation a new market demands — in the months and years before lawyers, banks or agencies have a role.

Toby Ward

Toby Ward

Managing Partner

Toby advises business leaders and investors on strategy, political engagement and international positioning, often in complex environments. Over the past fifteen years he has successfully delivered for global brands and institutions in sport, financial services and technology, helping them enter new markets, manage risk and build relationships that support long-term growth.

Selected experience

  • Hanover Communications — six years in London, latterly heading the financial-services practice through Brexit and regulatory reform
  • Accenture — four years in senior government relations roles, driving market access across service lines and into new jurisdictions
  • Consulum, Riyadh and Dubai — Director then Senior Director on economic-regulator, investor-attraction and Vision 2030 sovereign-fund mandates

Expertise

  • International relations and public affairs
  • Strategic positioning and stakeholder engagement
  • Partnerships, governance and reputation
James Cole

James Cole

Senior Adviser

James has spent fifteen years building capital relationships between Asia and the Middle East. With a strong track record of cross-border commercial transactions, his expertise lies in who should meet whom, in what sequence, and when a relationship is ready to carry a decision. Having lived in Shanghai, London and Dubai, he now divides his time between China and the Gulf.

Selected experience

  • Arup, London and Hong Kong — six years in architecture, design and strategic advisory across Asia-Pacific
  • Shanghai — a decade advising families, developers and corporate clients on Gulf market entry
  • The Gulf — five years advising Chinese family offices, developers and industrial groups entering the region, and Gulf institutions building exposure to China

Expertise

  • China–Gulf capital relationships and senior access
  • Family office, real estate and long-horizon capital
  • Relationship-led positioning and market navigation
Harry Nicholls

Harry Nicholls

Senior Adviser

Harry is a senior strategy and communications adviser with experience supporting governments and major organisations across the Gulf and Asia. He has spent the past decade advising cabinet-level ministers, sovereign wealth funds and other prominent regional entities on reputation and public affairs. A fluent Mandarin speaker, he began his career in investment banking before advising African governments on their relationship with China.

Selected experience

  • Investment banking — began his career in the energy sector, on cross-border transactions
  • African governments — counsel to state clients on their relationships with China
  • Gulf and Asia — a decade leading reputation, public affairs and stakeholder programmes for governments, sovereign investors, ministers and chief executives

Expertise

  • Cross-border capital and relationships
  • Geopolitics and international development
  • Strategic communications, public affairs and market access
The wider team

A standing network, drawn on as each mandate requires.

Beyond the core team, Osterley engages a trusted network of senior advisers and subject-matter experts — former officials, operators and specialists — across the regions and disciplines the corridor demands.

Regions

  • The Gulf — GCC capitals and free zones
  • Greater China — Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong
  • The United Kingdom and Europe

Disciplines

  • Government and regulatory affairs
  • Sovereign and institutional capital
  • Legal, tax and corporate structuring counsel
  • Sector specialists — energy, technology, infrastructure

Engaged for

  • Named introductions at principal level
  • On-the-ground intelligence and early sight of change
  • Technical review alongside the core team