VoyageDallas Feature: Keith Anderson

VoyageDallas recently published an article featuring Keith Anderson, CEO of  Harrison. Below is the transcript.

View full article at VoyageDallas.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Keith Anderson.

Hi Keith, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
To understand how we got here, you have to go back to where it all began.

Founded in Birmingham England, Harrison helped shape the UK hospitality landscape by designing many of the country’s leading restaurant brands. Over the past 37 years, we’ve evolved into a global hospitality consultancy, partnering with some of the world’s most recognized hospitality brands from offices in the UK, Dallas TX, and Australia.

My own journey with Harrison began more than 23 years ago as a graduate designer. During my first decade with the company, I helped grow the business in the UK as Harrison established itself as a leading hospitality design consultancy, driven by a simple vision: to make hospitality unforgettable.

As many of our clients expanded internationally, particularly into the United States, an opportunity emerged for Harrison to do the same. At the same time, I was looking for a new challenge and was motivated by the opportunity to build a design business from the ground up. Launching Harrison in the U.S. felt like the perfect next chapter.

In 2013, we opened our Dallas office. Dallas was a natural choice and remains one of the most influential hospitality markets in the country, home to both innovative emerging concepts and some of the industry’s most established brands. Our collective strategy was to combine Harrison’s international perspective with a deep understanding of the American hospitality market.

What began as an interior design-led practice evolved into a multidisciplinary hospitality consultancy focusing on every touch point of the guest experience encompassing brand strategy, brand identity, insight, architecture and interior design.

Today, we work with everyone from entrepreneurial startups to global restaurant companies, helping create scalable brands, transformative guest experiences, and landmark projects across the United States, including at New York City’s World Trade Center.

One of the most important lessons we learned early on was that success in the U.S. required more than simply exporting a British point of view. We needed to build a business with an authentic American voice. That vision accelerated when Geoff Spaete, now our President, joined the company. By combining exceptional U.S. architectural expertise with Harrison’s strategic and creative heritage, we created a model uniquely suited to the American market.

Our early USA growth was fueled by partnerships with brands such as Main Event, Velvet Taco, and Nando’s Peri-Peri. As the business evolved, we expanded our service offerings into premium hospitality, working with brands including Fogo de Chão, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants & Darden Restaurant Group, whilst continuing to support clients across the broader hospitality sector.

A defining part of our story has been helping hospitality brands successfully cross borders. We’ve supported more than 40 brands entering new international markets, whether helping global brands establish themselves in the U.S. or guiding American brands as they expand abroad. Understanding the cultural nuances, operational realities, and guest expectations that drive success across markets has become one of our greatest strengths.

Today, we continue to partner with some of the industry’s most respected brands while helping create entirely new concepts such as Long Weekend, the recently completed project in Houston TX. Through it all, our strategy remains unchanged: helping hospitality brands create meaningful experiences that emotionally connect with people.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Like most entrepreneurial journeys, our path has been far from linear.

When we launched Harrison in the United States, we quickly learned that an international reputation alone wasn’t enough. We had to earn our right to be a respected and trusted as an US Architectural practice and establish our place in the market by building trust one relationship, one project, and one successful outcome at a time. The early years were about building credibility. Building a business from the ground up requires patience, resilience, and a willingness to continually prove our value. Key to this is our client-focused approach, a willingness to put others’ success ahead of one’s own personal gains, understanding that their success would lead to strong and enduring relationships as strategic practitioners.

As the hospitality industry evolved, so did we. What began as a design-focused practice expanded into a multidisciplinary consultancy encompassing architecture, brand strategy, identity, insights, and guest experience. As part of putting the guest at the heart of the experience our process focuses on customer journey planning, storytelling and creating purposeful brand narratives that resonate and build loyalty. This combined with our ability to blend creativity with commercial thinking enabled us to support clients more holistically and help them navigate increasingly complex business challenges.

Like every hospitality-focused business, we’ve also faced periods of significant disruption. The COVID-19 pandemic tested both our clients and our industry in unprecedented ways, requiring rapid adaptation and new ways of thinking. More recently, economic uncertainty and tariff pressures have continued to challenge the sector. These moments reinforced an important lesson: adaptability is not simply an advantage, it’s a necessity. Staying closely connected to changing consumer behaviors and our clients’ evolving needs has allowed us to remain relevant and responsive through every cycle.

If there is one constant throughout our history, it is our willingness to embrace change. Rather than viewing challenges as obstacles, we’ve consistently treated them as opportunities to learn, evolve, and strengthen the overall business.

At the heart of that journey is our people. Harrison has always been committed to developing talent from within and creating meaningful opportunities for long-term career growth. Many of the individuals who helped establish our U.S. business remain with the company today after more than two decades, reflecting the culture, loyalty, and shared purpose we’ve worked hard to cultivate. Having opened our US and APAC offices in 2013 and 2019 respectively, Harrison has experienced a 200% increase in global staff numbers over the last decade with women representing 39% of senior leaders, a 600% increase since 2020 and a true reflection of Harrison’s commitment to inclusive growth.

While our services, markets, and clients have evolved over the years, our philosophy remains unchanged: build exceptional teams, create lasting partnerships, and never stop adapting to help our clients succeed.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
In Dallas, our USA studio is more than just a workspace, it’s a community. A place where ideas move fast, laughter carries through the day, and everyone’s voice matters.

What began in 2013, when Keith Anderson brought Harrison across the Atlantic, has since grown into a dynamic, multidisciplinary team. Now our Global CEO and a full-time Texas resident, Keith’s vision continues to shape who we are: a bold, people-first design company with global perspective and local heart.

Rooted in Texas but thinking globally, we’re a team of creatives, strategists, architects, designers, and quiet powerhouses behind the scenes all driven by one belief: great design connects people.

There’s an energy here you can feel. Music hums in the background. Sharpies dance across sketch rolls. Someone’s always dreaming up a new way to elevate an experience whether it’s a high-volume prototype or a bold, never-been-done-before concept.

We care about what we create and who we create it with. Our team is the heartbeat of everything. We grow together, challenge each other, back one another. We stay curious. We stay kind. We stay true to what matters.

This isn’t just the story of a studio. It’s the story of people who believe in what they do and the future they’re helping to shape.

How do you think about luck?
There’s always an element of timing in business, but I’ve found that success is usually created through hard work, strong relationships, and being prepared when opportunities arise. That said, I consider myself fortunate to have worked alongside incredibly talented people throughout my career and to have earned the trust of clients who believed in us as we established Harrison in a new market. Their confidence allowed us to grow, evolve, and continually raise the standard of what we deliver.

One of the things I’ve always admired about Texas is its entrepreneurial mindset. Since launching our U.S. business, we’ve encountered countless hospitality industry leaders and organizations willing to support new ideas, take calculated risks, and create opportunities for emerging businesses. That openness to innovation and collaboration has played an important role in our journey and reflects the spirit that makes the market so dynamic.

If there’s one lesson I’ve learned, it’s that opportunity tends to find businesses that remain curious, adaptable, and committed to creating meaningful value. While we’ve certainly benefited from being in the right place at the right time on occasion, our growth has been built on a foundation of trusted relationships, continuous evolution, and a team that’s always willing to embrace the next challenge.

Looking back, I don’t think of it as luck as much as the collective impact of great people, great clients, and a shared commitment and love for the hospitality industry, together with the commitment to building something better every day.