LesConcierges

In 1987, long before the internet put every service at our fingertips, LesConcierges was founded in San Francisco with a simple premise: provide high-touch, personal assistance to the most valuable employees and customers of large corporations. The business was built on a B2B model, selling its loyalty services to companies that wanted to offer a premium perk, outsourcing the time-consuming personal tasks of their top talent. This allowed clients to focus on work while a concierge handled the rest. The playbook was centered on providing a comprehensive work-life balance solution. Under the leadership of figures like Chairman Linda Jenkinson and CEO Ramesh Patel, the company established itself as a premier global provider in the corporate concierge space. If a client's employee needed last-minute dinner reservations, a hard-to-find gift, or someone to wait for the plumber, LesConcierges handled it. The service became an essential tool for corporations to attract and retain talent. A significant shift in the market came in December 2015 when the company's main competitor, the French firm John Paul, merged with LesConcierges. Founded by David Amsellem in 2007, John Paul was a technology-focused player in the same industry. The combination created a dominant global leader in loyalty and concierge services, blending the established, service-oriented approach of LesConcierges with John Paul's modern tech platform. The new, combined entity operated under the John Paul name, signaling a new chapter. The story reached its ultimate conclusion just a year later. In late 2016, the hospitality giant AccorHotels acquired the newly merged John Paul for around $150 million. This final acquisition validated the core idea that LesConcierges had been built on for nearly three decades: high-touch, personalized service is a powerful and valuable asset for building enduring customer and employee loyalty.