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Belief in the business of doing business

By Zeng Biao (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-17 08:04

Stella is a senior researcher in UK's semiconductor industry. Recently, she turned down an offer to work for a Chinese company in the UK because, she said, she was not interested in working for a Chinese boss. Since Stella is a Chinese, her decision not to work for a firm from her home country, even though it is on the world's Fortune 500 list, may appear weird. But her decision reflects the freedom of choice, and has nothing to do with patriotism.

The UK has more than 200,000 Chinese immigrants, and youths from China make up the largest group of overseas students in the country, making it a good place to observe Chinese business people abroad.

You have to be aware, though, that Chinese is a diversified term in the British context. The first Chinese immigrants reached the UK in the late 19th century and worked mainly as laundrymen, cooks and peddlers. Coolie (or unskilled laborer) became synonymous with their social status. Most of the first generation immigrants were from Canton (Guangdong) or Hong Kong, and they became the first group of Chinese businessmen in the UK.

Then came the second wave of Chinese immigrants in the middle of last century, bringing about the evolution of Chinese business people. Gradually, the laundrymen became designers, the cooks transformed into restaurateurs, and the peddlers rose to become supermarket bosses. But the majority of them were still Cantonese.

The group threw up some outstanding business people. The Yip brothers, who founded Wing Yip, are an excellent example. The Wing Yip group is the UK's leading supplier of Chinese and other Asian products, and was ranked 944th in The Times Fortune list of 2003.

I once visited their headquarters in Birmingham and talked to their new generation boss. Henry Yip is a gentle and amiable man, who graduated in law from a British university. Apart from the Yips' success in business, they are famous for their charity work, especially in education. They have set up the Wing Yip & Brothers Scholarship and sponsor the studies of three Chinese students every year.

David Tang, who moved to England from Hong Kong when he was a boy, is another example of success. Tang founded Shanghai Tang, a chain of shops selling improved Han dresses, and can proudly name Prince Charles as his most valued customer.

But compared to Henry Yip's low profile, Tang appears flamboyant. He is often invited to local media programs such as the BBC's Question Time. In 2004, he launched a social award, called the Pearl Award. He is a regular contributor to The Spectator, and in recognition of his efforts to promote the Chinese community in UK, he was awarded the KBE (Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth in 2008.

But only a few Chinese have the flamboyance of Tang. Maintaining a low profile is still the golden rule of Chinese businessmen. Their priority is success in business.

And success is what Wagamama is all about. Started by Alan Yau, another immigrant from Hong Kong, Wagamama is perhaps the most successful chain of Chinese eateries in Britain today.

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Yau moved to London at the age of 12 and worked with his parents, who used to run a takeaway eatery. Lying down in his attic bedroom, Yau often used to think about improving his parents' recipes. In 1992, he opened the first Wagamama outlet in London. Today, his business extends to more than 10 countries.

Wagamama's noodles do not have the original Chinese taste. But that does not bother Yau. His only concern is success in business, and his efforts have seen Wagamama become a global chain of eateries serving pan-Asian food. Yau's success shows certain amounts of flexibility and compromise are needed for success in the multicultural British society.

People from Guangdong and Hong Kong have led the Chinese success story in the UK. But the presence of people from other parts of the Chinese mainland is becoming increasingly hard to ignore.

The Chinese government sent many people to the UK in the last century to earn their doctoral degrees or get professional training. Some of them opted to stay in the UK, and are called the "new mainland immigrants".

There are two vital differences between the old and new immigrants. First, the new immigrants speak Putonghua and most of them hold university degrees or come from professional backgrounds. They are not afraid to compete in high-end businesses such as the media, finance and IT. Second, they are more optimistic and confident of China's rising status, though both have graduated from humble beginnings.

Ming Liang-chen came from Anhui province to England in 1987 to pursue his PhD in Physics. After shuffling from one job to another for some time, he and his wife launched Omega Travel in 1996. Seven years after the successful launch of their air ticket agency business, he started the UK Chinese Times, a weekly Chinese newspaper. Their bold business experiment, rare by a Chinese in the media, has resulted in the most widely circulated Chinese newspaper in Europe. And most importantly, it makes money, too.

Chinese businessmen have undergone rapid changes through the three generations, the most significant of which is the breaking of the stereotype that Cantonese means Chinese. Behind this significant transformation, you can find more and more Chinese faces because of China's rise on the world stage. Chinese business people may still be found in laundries and kitchens, but they also appear on the front pages of business newspapers and in BBC breakfast news.

The author is the editor-in-chief of Tone Magazine, UK.