I eat out three times a day most days of the year. This is no big deal to most New Yorkers, and it is not something I am necessarily proud of - it's simply the nature of my itinerant life.

- Ben Elliot

If people don't feel they've got your attention, you're not going to succeed.

- Ben Elliot

In my heart and soul, I am a West Country man, and ideally, my weekends are spent there.

- Ben Elliot

Now if I don't take exercise I feel a bit frazzled.

- Ben Elliot

Since I travel to the four corners of this planet for work, I don't need sun holidays or that kind of thing.

- Ben Elliot

There are a lot of laws from Europe about employing people which are absolute nonsense.

- Ben Elliot

What goes around comes around in business, and it's better to help people out rather than bill them every time you speak to them.

- Ben Elliot

When the truth does not get printed, damage is done.

- Ben Elliot

When you think about the word 'quintessentially', it's about trying to get to the very essence of something.

- Ben Elliot

I don't set out to be connected. My business has allowed me to meet lots of interesting people, some of whom have become friends; but you can't force it. This terrible word - 'networking' - I really hate.

- Ben Elliot

I'm a creature of habit and tend to favour small, traditional English businesses.

- Ben Elliot

I knew Quintessentially was a success when my father, who does a lot of business in Beirut, introduced himself to somebody and they said, 'Oh, do you know Ben Elliot? I'd really like to meet him.' I remember him ringing me up, really annoyed.

- Ben Elliot

I studied politics and economics at Bristol, and people always assumed that I'd go into politics or a non-government organisation when I left. I might well do this later on. I'd love to represent a West Country seat in the House of Commons.

- Ben Elliot

I've always been fascinated by India and its color and vibrancy. I worked in Madhya Pradesh in the Kanha National Game reserve before university, and it is probably the most intoxicating country I have ever visited.

- Ben Elliot

In summer, my Sundays are often taken up with cricket. I play with a bunch of other over-competitive and overenthusiastic guys who I have known for a very long time.

- Ben Elliot

In the same way I am addicted to puddings - the sweeter the better - I have become addicted to the daily routines my Pilates and Gyrotonic guru, Nada, puts me through.

- Ben Elliot

It's not marriage that I crave. Many of my friends who have married are pretty miserable. Within a year and a half, most of them are either unhappy or divorced.

- Ben Elliot

My father instilled in me an attitude that you couldn't really enjoy yourself unless you had done something to deserve it. So, my childhood was spent working on farms or local shops or, when I got older, in banks.

- Ben Elliot

When I lived in New York, I discovered these Russian & Turkish Baths in East 10th Street. Great for a platza treatment - plus, you'll run into the world and his wife there.

- Ben Elliot

With offices in 64 cities around the world, it is sometimes a challenge to ensure that I've got my finger on the pulse with every one, everywhere. Staying in touch means early rising for calls with China and Japan, and late calls with the U.S.

- Ben Elliot