Peking into the Chinese method
Thursday, 2nd February 2006

EASTERN LINKS: Stuart Willis with Chinese students
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THE “getting to know you” policy
of a Royton firm, which only started trading in China two years ago,
has paid off.
And it has helped RMD to scoop a business award.
RMD is a £2m-turnover firm which has been designing and making
bespoke display stands for the retail trade for 30 years.
The foundations of success for the rapidly-expanding company were
laid down with managing director Stuart Willis’s first fact-finding
visit to China.
It was a cultural eye-opener for Stuart, who, looking for
site to produce ready-made stands, realised just how massively
different the two cultures were.
He thought the way to get the best out of partnerships was to
understand the people and customs.
With that philosophy, the launch of a second shopfittings
company, Display Matters, has proved a huge success, and it is
growing at a phenomenal rate.
And coming runner up in the North West China Trade Awards, where
it was up against bigger, long-established firms, is a mark of that
success, says Stuart. From humble beginnings of employing one person
and operating from “borrowed space”, the operation now turns over
around £800,000 a year.
“The reason for the success of Display Matters is largely due to
its dealings with Chinese industry and its policy to understand the
way business functions.
This is why we spend a lot of time there with our employees and
suppliers, to understand Chinese business and culture,” says Stuart.
His commitment has included an alliance with Manchester Business
School, taking on two of their high-flying Chinese students for a
placement for a project to help RMD.
The company is now working on plans to open an office in Hong
Kong. |