5 Minutes With... Ben Jones

LEAVING BEHIND A TRAIL OF LUXURIOUS RESTAURANTS, BARS AND BESPOKE VILLAS ACROSS SINGAPORE AND INDONESIA, M. DEVELOPMENTS IS THE DISRUPTIVE BRAINCHILD OF FOODIE, ENTREPRENEUR AND SELF-PROFESSED DESIGN GEEK, BEN JONES.

- Holly Johnson

Since he was a child, Ben Jones has had a passion for food and an eye for design. But it wasn’t until 2013 that he turned these passions into a reality with the launch of the M. Developments family of businesses – and his feet haven’t touched the ground since.

“I was the kid at school that read magazines like Wallpaper instead of GQ,” he admits. “Even though I started out in finance and banking, I’d always loved hospitality and design and I realised that if I could combine them and do it right, I could achieve something amazing.”

The success of his first venue, Singapore’s traditional yet edgy pub Oxwell & Co, was quickly followed by Operation Dagger, a speakeasy serving experimental cocktails made from 100 per cent in-house fermented and distilled product.