Orient Issue 33

ORIENT T H E O F F I C I A L MAGAZINE OF THE BRITISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE - SIN G A P O R E

I S S U E 33 • O C T - N O V 2011

12TH ANNUAL BUSINESS AWARDS

w w w. b r i tc h a m . o rg. s g

FEATURE

PROPERTY UPDATE

CSR

WORKING WITH GEN X & Y building networks connecting business creating opportunities

CONTENTS W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

4

Pr e s i d e n t ’s M e s s a g e

8

Headline

n

12th Annual Business Awards

20 O c tober Feature – Proper t y Update

8

Headline: 12th Annual Business Awards

n

n

n

n

n

n

n

Business Space Developers Up The Ante – Ascendas London’s Sales and Rental Markets Continue to Prove Resilient – Benham & Reeves Central London Residential Property Update 2011 – DST Singapore Residential Market – Savills New Stock Arriving in the Singapore Residential Market – JLL UK House Prices Falling, But London Prices Still on the Up – JLL Singapore Office Rents Moderate to a Sustainable Pace - JLL

30 Inside Britain

21

n

UK FDI Review & Tech City – UKTI

32 Economic and Business Insights

Feature: Property Update: London’s Sales and Rental Markets Continue to Prove Resilient

n

n

n

n

n

Global Staff Mobility: Why Teamwork is the Way Forward – Ernst & Young Still Backing China Stocks: Foolhardy or Just Phlegmatic? – Stephenson Harwood The Customer Experience: Have Customers Been Forgotten? – EA Consulting Group Inheritance Tax, Domicile and Life Assurance – The Fry Group It’s not “just a game”... – GS Wealth

42 Corporate Social Responsibility

n

n

Working with Gen X & Y on CSR; The DLS Way – Davis Langdon & Seah Towards Green Growth – British High Commission

48 Out of the Box

22-30

Economic & Business Insights

n

Leadership – ABE

50 High Commission News

n

British High Commission News October / November 2011

52 Chamber News

n

n

n

Chamber News – August / September 2011 Events Calendar BritCham Members Offers

56 The BritCham Membership

48

n

Sterling News

Out of the Box: Leadership

EDITOR: Akansha Gupta Wahi Email: Akansha@britcham.org.sg

ASSISTANT EDITOR: Loong Yong En Email: yongen@britcham.org.sg

LAYOUT & PRINTING BY Semco Design Communications MICA (P) 209/03/2011

PAG E 1

Orient is a bi-monthly magazine published by the British Chamber of Commerce.

138 Cecil Street #11-01 Cecil Court Singapore 069538 Tel: +65 6222-3552 Fax: +65 6222-3556 Email: info@britcham.org.sg www.britcham.org.sg

The views and opinions expressed or implied in Orient are those of the authors or contributors and do not reflect those of the British Chamber of Commerce, its officers or editorial staff. All rights reserved.

No reproduction of articles without the prior permission of the Chamber.

Unsolicited transparencies ad articles are sent at owners’ own risk and the Chamber accepts no liability for loss or damage.

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

CO N T E N TS

58 BritCham Events

Breakfast Clubs Advanced Negotiations Skills – Huthwaite A European Law of Contract – 20 Essex St

Mastering Intercultural Intelligence - Cartus UK Residency – The Fry Group Leaders in Business Lunches Leaders in Business Lunch With HE Antony Phillipson, British High Commissioner Is that a Light at the End of the Tunnel, or An Oncoming Train?

– Sir Martin Sorrell, Chief Executive of WPP Networking YBC Networking: Twilight Sail and Mentoring Session YBC Mentor Series: Making Your Passions Your Career – Ian Mullane, CEO Vanda Sports Group Business Networking: Leadership in Turbulent Times: What Have We Learned? – LKYSPP F1 Networking E&SBG Networking BritCham/UKTI Briefing Doing Business in India – UKTI India

n

n n

58

BritCham Events: F1 Networking

n

n

n

n

n

n

n

n

n

66 The BritCham Membership

n

Corporate News

72 Arts & Culture

66

Arts & Culture: Future Memory Pavilion (image © Arup Singapore Pte. Ltd.)

n

n

Future Memory Pavilion – British Council Rugby Inspired Programme For Less Fortunate – Centaurs

76 Wine Club

BRITISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, SINGAPORE SPONSORS PLATINUM SPONSORS

SILVER SPONSORS

BREAKFAST CLUB SPONSOR

BRONZE SPONSORS

D66_C2-05.10.11 P9_8574 NE5073

30.09.11

D66/A1

150

PAG E 2

none

K C M Y 10/5/11

7:59 PM

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

PRE S I D E N T ’S M E S S AG E Dear Members, Welcome to our October edition of ORIENT which features property, a regular feature of interest each year. While prices here have seemingly defied gravity over recent years, property in parts of Asia appears now to be cooling off.

This time of the year is busy for the Chamber as our events calendar fills up and, as always, it’s a bustling and busy time for Singapore. The spectacle of the F1 Grand Prix night race again showcased the city to hundreds of millions of TV viewers and many thousands of spectators and party-goers. As in previous years, the Chamber had its pre-F1 party at the Cricket Club within the race track on the night before racing began. This provided an opportunity for members to gather and savour a flavour of what was to come, with a simulator of the Singapore track in use throughout the night and with the fastest laps, though not quite up to Jenson Button’s standards, winning bottles of Champagne. The evening also featured a talk by DHL which provided a business insight into what it takes to move the F1 roadshow around the world throughout the series while meeting the exacting, and sometimes unusual, demands of the teams.

This time of the year brings many visitors here and we were fortunate to have Sir Martin Sorrell of WPP address a Leaders in Business lunch where he gave a whirlwind but comprehensive tour of his outlook for global business in these difficult economic times. Lord Peter Mandelson was also a visitor in September and, as a past EU trade commissioner and a recent UK government minister, he delivered the 3rd Schuman lecture for EuroCham. Leaders in Business lunches in October will feature Paul Skinner, Business Ambassador and Chair of Infrastructure UK and Vince Cable, UK Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Our business breakfast series on doing business in Asia, arranged for us by UKTI, continued with a briefing on India. These practical exchanges provide insights into how best to conduct business for success in country and what pitfalls to avoid and they receive strong positive feedback. BritCham has recently forged a collaboration with the LKY School of Public Policy and held a first joint networking evening on the Bukit Timah campus and featured two short high BRITCHAM BOARD: PRESIDENT: Steve Puckett – Tri-Zen International VICE-PRESIDENTS: John Horsburgh – Rolls Royce Singapore Hugo Walkinshaw – Deloitte Consulting SE Asia TREASURER: David Macdonald – Skandia International HONORARY SECRETARY: Damian Adams – Watson, Farley & Williams LLP EX-OFFICIO: Judith Slater – British High Commission Mark Howard – British Council BOARD MEMBERS: Peter Allen – Pacific Century Regional Developments Emma Boyd – ANATTA Richard Burn – Diageo Singapore Ingrid Child – HSBC Bank Stephen Crisp – Nokia Siemens Networks Singapore James Deely – The Royal Bank of Scotland plc Andrew Thomas – Ogilvy & Mather Singapore Nick McGlynn – British Airways Pek Hak Bin – BP Singapore Roman Scott – Calamander Capital Philippe Touati – Standard Chartered Bank Andrew Vine – The Insight Bureau

PAG E 4

impact presentations on the topic of Leadership and received with some ‘best ever networking’ feedback.

We will continue this relationship with similar occasional joint networking evenings.

Our next networking evening will be a pre-Christmas event to close out the year.

The 12th Business Awards gala dinner once again lived up to its billing as the premier business event in our calendar. Again there were a record number of nominations with new names among the finalists. This year’s awards, ably overseen by Board member Emma Boyd, were an evolution from the successful formula of previous years and the newly shaped award categories highlighted those key elements that go to make for commercial success. The Awards raise awareness of those meeting increasing business challenges by honouring excellence in nine categories. The winners and finalists are to be congratulated and indeed the many nominees to be thanked for their participation.

Finally, I wish to acknowledge and thank Stephen Mangham for his contribution to the Board over the past two years. Most recently Stephen was the driving force behind the creation of the series of video commercials aired on the BBC for the Business Awards. Stephen is leaving Singapore, where he was Chairman of Ogilvy and Mather, and relocating to take up a role in Indonesia. Stephen is replaced on the Board by Andrew Thomas, Managing Director Public Relations Ogilvy Asia.

Steve Puckett, President, British Chamber of Commerce

COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSONS: Corporate Social Responsibility: Richard Burn Events & Sponsorship: Philippe Touati External Affairs: Steve Puckett Marketing & Communications: TBC Membership: Andrew Vine BUSINESS GROUP CHAIRPERSONS: Energy & Utilities – Damian Adams Entrepreneur & Small Business – Sonia Fuller Financial Services – Patrick Donaldson IT and Communications Technology – Henry Farahar Leadership – TBA Media & Marketing – TBA Professional Services – TBA Property & Construction – Alan Dalgleish Shipping Transport & Logistics – Neil Johnson Young Professionals – Miles Gooseman MANAGEMENT TEAM: Executive Director: Brigitte Holtschneider Accountant: Sabitha Munnangi Business Enhancement & Events Development Manager: Erica Seo Business Events & Business Group Relations Manager: Tiffeny Kua Marketing & Communications Manager: Akansha Gupta Wahi Marketing & Communications Assistant: Loong Yong En Membership Manager: Katie Hudson Office Administration & Membership Support: Emi Hosono

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

www.britcham.org.sg

STE R L I N G M E M B E R S

BRITISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, SINGAPORE STERLING MEMBERS

PAG E 6

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

S

undays are made at the sentosa

Set against the backdrop of lush greenery and complete with panoramic seaviews, Sunday Brunch at The Terrace features an impressive array of sushi and sashimi, oysters and fresh seafood, a sizzling outdoor barbecue, saccharine sweet desserts and free flow of champagne – is it any wonder that Sundays spent at The Sentosa Resort and Spa are truly one of a kind?

Available only on Sundays from 12pm to 3pm S$152++ per adult S$59++ per child (4 to 12 years) The Terrace at The Sentosa Resort & Spa 2 Bukit Manis Road, Singapore 009891 Tel: +65 6371 1414 Fax: +65 6371 1417 www.thesentosa.com

12th ANNUAL BUSINESS HIG H L I GAWARDS H TS

12th ANNUAL BUSINESS AWARDS

12th ANNUAL BUSINESS AWARDS

TITLE SPONSOR

Singapore, 5 October 2011 – The British Chamber of Commerce honoured the winners of the 12th Annual Business Awards, at a gala dinner held at the Shangri-La Hotel on 5 October 2011. The theme of the awards this year was a Race. The concept juxtaposing running a business to running a marathon. “May the Best Business Win” was not only the by-line but also the sentiment that echoed around the room of nearly 400 guests and business representatives.

The nine winners all received their awards in the presence of HE Antony Phillipson, British High Commissioner to Singapore and Keynote Speaker Mr. David Eldon, Senior Advisor to PricewaterhouseCoopers and Chairman, HSBC Bank Middle East Limited.

Commenting on this year’s awards, Steve Puckett, President of the British Chamber of Commerce Singapore said: “The awards have gone from strength to strength, reflecting the success that the British Chamber of Commerce has enjoyed in recent years. Singapore is becoming a hub for Pan Asian activities, for all businesses in the region. Each year we see stronger entries and the awards becoming more competitive, with an everincreasing quality of nominees fielded. This year has special significance for us as the Awards were supported for the first time by SBF, SPRING, EDB, UKTI and EuroCham. Also a first this year was the collaboration with BBC World News as our exclusive TV media partner.”

EXCLUSIVE MEDIA PARTNER

SUPPORTED BY

12th ANNUAL BUSINESS AWARDS HIG H L I G H TS

OUR JUDGES Customer Service Excellence MR. Paul Harris Regional Director, Asia Pacific Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited

Exceptional CSR Practice MR. Thomas Thomas Executive Director Singapore Compact for CSR

Productivity Improvement MR. Alistair MacIntyre-Currie Head of Marketing & Communications, Customer Operations East Nokia Siemens Networks

Innovation in Business MR. Reinhold Carl Managing Director Audi Singapore

Inspirational Creativity Prof Hellmut Schutte Emeritus Professor of International Management INSEAD

Education & Training Excellence Dr. Jonathan Trevor Co-Director, Centre for International HRM Lecturer Cambridge Judge Business School Outstanding Professional Services MR. David Leaver Singapore Engagement Partner KPMG

Young Professional of the Year MR. Anthony Lucas Partner Accenture

Best Small Business Rising Star of the Year Prof Desai Narasimhalu Director, Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Singapore Management University

12th ANNUAL BUSINESS AWARDS

CUSTOMER SERVICE EXCELLENCE Category Sponsor:

Finalists

ST Kinetics

Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre

Land Systems and Specialty Vehicles arm of ST Engineering. Among the leaders of Asia’s defense and specialty vehicles company, sales of over S$1.5 billion in 2010. Their Motto is – “To Save Lives” – the ultimate Customer Service. In June 2011, ST Kinetics completed the delivery of more than 100 Warthog All Terrain Vehicles to UK Ministry of Defense (MOD) for operations in Afghanistan; these vehicles have helped save the lives of many soldiers.

Located in the heart of Asia’s most integrated meetings, conventions and exhibition hub. With 100,000 sqm of versatile floor space, this awardwinning facility can cater to events from 10 to 20,000 persons. Suntec’s CS Mantra is “Service is about passion and must come from the heart”.

They have many internal initiatives – Service Quality Mentor, work life balance, training and skills upgrade. Their staff are their service ambassadors.

Winner Wing Tai Retail Pte. Ltd. Wing Tai Retail Pte. Ltd. clinched the award “…on the basis of being uniformly impressive across the different areas as opposed to just one or two “stand-out” areas…” said the judge for the award category - Mr Paul Harris, Regional Director Asia-Pacific, Rolls Royce Motor Cars Limited. “They are a great example of a Singaporean company bringing new ideas, products and service opportunities to their clients in Singapore.”

On receiving the award, Helen Khoo, Executive Director, Wing Tai Retail said “We are indeed very honoured and thrilled to be recognised for our efforts to consistently provide excellent service to our customers! We are definitely motivated to continue our pursuit of excellence.”

12th ANNUAL BUSINESS HIG H L I GAWARDS H TS

EXCEPTIONAL CSR PRACTICE Category Sponsor:

Finalists

HSBC

MHC Medical Network Pte Ltd

Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre

One of the largest banking and financial services organizations in the world. The Group has over 7,500 offices in 87 countries and territories in the world.

MHC Asia Group (MHC) is a leading medical and health technology company specializing in Managed Care, Third Party Administration (TPA), Workplace Health Programs and Health Screening Services in Singapore and the region.

Suntec Singapore Asia’s Convention City offers direct access to hotels, malls, museums and a world- class performing arts centre - all within a 15 minute walk.

The group sustainability strategy focuses on 4 key pillars: 1. Footprint Management - In 2005, first FTSE 100 company to become carbon neutral., 2. Sustainable Finance – adopted the Equator Principles for project finance, 3. Diversity & Inclusion – conducts regular employee engagement surveys including D&I index 4. Community InvestmentVolunteers@HSBC programme established 1997 allows staff to invest time in community.

10% of the profits go to Goducate (non-profit helps needy Asians through skills & education). MHC has sponsored a children’s home in Cambodia, a model farm in Philippines, a computer literacy centre in Batam.

CSR initiatives include – recycling of Printer cartridges with Magnetone for Charity, boy’s brigade on its holiday program, partner of Child@ Street11 since 2004, make a wish partner since 2008, recycling of water, wastes, cooking oil and energy conservation.

Winner The Body Shop International (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd The award category judge Mr. Thomas Thomas, Executive Director, Singapore Compact said - “Body Shop was winner as their entry clearly narrated their story. The story was one of good performance with clear focus in their areas of choice. They showed a clear focus towards achieving their future goals”.

The Body Shop founder, late Dame Anita Roddick was a strong believer that “the business of business should not just be about money, it should be about responsibility.

It should be about public good, not private greed”. This ethos continues to live strong at The Body Shop. The company recently handed over 7 million petitions to the United Nations to Stop Sex Trafficking of Children and Young People.

12th ANNUAL BUSINESS AWARDS

PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVEMENT Category Sponsor

Finalists

Rolls-Royce Seletar Ltd

Rolls Royce Singapore Pte Ltd

The civil aerospace business powers over 30 types of commercial aircraft and has a strong position in all sectors of the market: wide body, narrow body and corporate and regional aircraft. A Rolls-Royce powered aircraft takes off or lands every 2.5 seconds.

Rolls-Royce, a world-leading provider of power systems and services for use on land, at sea and in the air, has established a strong position in global markets - civil aerospace, defense aerospace, marine, energy and nuclear. Rolls-Royce has had a presence in Singapore for more than 50 years, and combined with its joint venture partners, the Group employs over 1,700 people in Singapore.

All projects face issues, when RR made the biggest investment of the company in history, the construction of the Seletar Campus, it was full of challenges, vendor communication and cultural differences led to the creation of the Vendor Site guide, this is a story about a challenge overcome.

Facility of the future -Everything under one roof – contribute positively to the environment by being a lean manufacturing corporation that only value add and reduce waste, increasing efficiency and reduce time consumed. Employing Outsourcing Logistics Kaizen with CEVA logistics as a partner to ensure top logistics quality, safe and ever improving manufacturing and testing facility.

Winner International Engine Component Overhaul Pte Ltd “The submission from IECO stands out in this category due to the completeness of the presentation, and the demonstrable and identifiable productivity and process improvements that they have planned for and implemented, as well as the future initiatives that are already well underway, said Mr. Alistair MacIntrye-Currie, Head of Marketing and Comms, Customer Operations East, Nokia Siemens Networks who was the judge for this award category.

“What struck me most about this was the rigour that IECO had gone through to understand the challenges and opportunities in implementing Lean Six Sigma (among other improvements). Plus, they have worked collaboratively with their employees to request ground-up initiatives that mean the workforce is fully bought-in to and proud of any changes that are made. Overall, they have embraced a range of technology, process and people initiatives to continually innovate and improve their overall business and productivity” said Alistair when talking about IECO’s nomination entry.

IECO representatives present at the dinner were very thrilled with winning the Award, they said “It is great to win this award because it is a public recognition of the hard work that the employees of IECO do every day to satisfy customers and continually improve our business”.

12th ANNUAL BUSINESS HIG H L I GAWARDS H TS

I N N O VAT I O N

I N

B U S I N E S S

Category Sponsor

Finalists

Actix

Eversheds LLP

Actix is the world leader in mobile network analytics and optimisation, with more than 230 network operators as customers, including 25 of the top 30 globally.

Eversheds is one of the largest and most progressive international law firms in the world.

Actix provides comprehensive software-based solutions that help mobile operators to improve network rollout quality, enhance their customer’s experience and accomplish multi-vendor network optimisation.

Founded in 1992, today Actix has major offices in Singapore, U.K., Malaysia, Japan, China, U.S. Germany, Australia, Brazil, and Dubai.

The firm is renowned for its progressive attitude and was recently acclaimed by the Financial Times for its innovative approach to providing legal solutions for major global corporate clients. Eversheds handles all aspects of multi-jurisdictional, corporate, commercial, employment, real estate and litigation legal services.

Not afraid to be the first to try technology or new things.

Eversheds was the first to come up with a Bribery and Corruption Awareness and e-learning tool, Eversheds HR iPhone App, Eversheds Client Console. Innovation has become the DNA of the firm.

Winner ComfortDelGro Taxi Business (Comfort Transportation & CityCab) This was a very closely-fought category. ComfortDelGro won because they built a solution around changing client demand (Multi Channel; at the same time allowing cab drivers to increase revenue and efficiency in their work/services. The award category judge Mr. Reinhold Carl, Managing Director, Audi Singapore said – “The area of innovation is relevant to all Singaporeans. The initiative also has a green aspect as to avoid unnecessary distance travel to pick up customers.”

On receiving the award, Mr Yang Ban Seng, Chief Executive Officer – “We are delighted to have received this honour and strong endorsement from the British Chamber of Commerce. This award will spur us to introduce more innovative ways of making our taxi booking services faster and easier.”

12th ANNUAL BUSINESS AWARDS

INSPIRATIONAL CREATIVIT Y Category Sponsor

Finalists

Microsoft Services Asia

Pangdemonium! Productions

Microsoft Services offers Information Technology services in strategy, consulting and support. Worldwide, Microsoft operates in 13 Areas, with more than 17,000 employees in over 90 countries serving 35,000 partners and 715 million customers. In Asia, they have over 4,000 employees in 17 countries.

Pangdemonium! Productions is Singapore’s newest and most exciting theatre company. Artistic Directors Tracie Pang and Adrian Pang believe in theatre that has heart, humanity and humor. They are committed to producing works which are accessible, relevant, inspiring, challenging, and above all, have the highest artistic, entertainment and production values.

The submission is about how innovative communication can transform an organization, create a culture of collaboration and at the same time build a community of inspired and motivated employees in a highly matrix organization.

Being in the entertainment industry being creative is part of the job scope. They are dedicated to bringing stories to stage in the most dynamic way. Works include - Full Monty, Closer, Dealer’s Choice and Spring Awakening.

Winner BBH Asia Pacific Prof. Hellmut Schuette, Emeritus Professor of International Management, INSEAD, award category judge said –“As an international agency, BBH Asia Pacific has shown an amazing understanding of a very specific local market situation. ‘Selling’ a lively and witty repositioning campaign to a truly established insurance company must have been as difficult as developing such creative campaign itself. Their fast reaction to the floods shows that the company’s sparkling ideas are probably based on a deep seated creative corporate culture that inspires individuals to excellence“.

When asked to share their sentiments on winning, BBH said – “At BBH, we always remind ourselves that we are a creative business and not just a business which offers creative services. Winning a BCC Business Award for ‘inspirational creativity’ within the context of business growth further strengthens our reason for being.”

12th ANNUAL BUSINESS HIG H L I GAWARDS H TS

EDUCATION & TRAINING EXCELLLENCE Category Sponsor

Finalists

MandarinaKids Pte Ltd

Roffey Park Asia Pacific Pte Ltd

MandarinaKids™ was established in October 2010 and helps parents create a bilingual environment for their child to learn Mandarin.

Founded in 1946, Roffey Park is an internationally renowned leadership institute widely recognized for enabling people to achieve their full potential within the organizations they work for. Their purpose is to better by enabling and creating productive and profitable businesses and developing happier people.

The MandarinaKids™ educational system is for infants and toddlers in their early learning years from four months to pre-school.

Lelia Lim-Loges is the Founder and CEO of MandarinaKids. Prior to starting MandarinaKids, Lelia spent more than twenty successful years in the corporate world where she was involved in human resources and recruitment that gave her the understanding of talent acquisition and high-potential development.

They offer training programs, both open and tailored, consultancy services and qualification programs including the MSc in People and Organizational Development and Postgraduate certificate in Coaching.

On 23 July 2010, the Asia Pacific operations were established with a permanent office opened on 6 Feb 2011 with 3 full time members of staff backed by a team of over 50 consultants and associated based in the UK.

Winner United World College of South East Asia “Excellent in vision and strategy development, but also in implementation. It seems that the fabulous growth in size has not negatively affected the enthusiasm of the staff and the quality output of the school. It proves that educational institutions don’t have to be small and elitist in order to provide a very good and – in the case of UWC – holistic learning environment” said award category judge Dr. Jonathan Trevor, Co-Director, Centre of International HRM Lecturer, Cambridge Judge Business School UWCSEA shared their views on the 12th Annual Business Awards – “We have entered in the past and felt that it was appropriate for us to do so again given the extraordinary developments at the College in recent years. There is undoubtedly the kudos associated with the award but also a validation of the work we have been doing.”

12th ANNUAL BUSINESS AWARDS

OUTSTANDING PROFESSIONAL SERVICES Category Sponsor

Finalists

Nielsen Singapore

Stephenson Harwood

Nielsen is a global information and measurement company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence, mobile measurement, trade shows and related properties.

Stephenson Harwood is a full service international law firm, with over 100 partners and 600 staff worldwide.

They act for a wide range of listed and private companies, institutions and individuals. They have seven offices across Europe and Asia.

Presence in approximately 100 countries. Clients include major companies in the FMCG , retail and telecommunications/ technology industries.

Their achievements include: one of the strongest financial performers in the market; the expanding size and geographical reach; industry leaders as a loyal client base; Award winning practice.

Nielsen initiated a major transformation of professional services model starting from the second half of 2010.

Coined “Client Services Transformation”, this strategic initiative is one of their biggest priorities in the APMEA region. More than ever, the client is at the centre of their focus.

They specialize in Aviation, Shipping and offshore finance, Corporate, shipping and dispute resolution and insurance and reinsurance law.

Winner Chapman Freeborn Airchartering Mr. David Leaver, Singapore Engagement Partner, KPMG, was the judge for this Award category, his comments about the winners was –“The company has demonstrated its commitment to differentiate itself with very high service standards across all its various activities”.

“Winning the 12th Annual Business Awards is a great honour. This award affirms our leading positions as the excellent aircraft charter provider in the world. To have won the outstanding professional services award, also proves that we have very experienced charter specialists, very dedicated employees who continue to deliver nothing but the very best. It feels awesome! We can’t wait to share this news with our colleagues worldwide”, said the Chapman Freeborn Air Chartering representative, after receiving the trophy.

12th ANNUAL BUSINESS HIG H L I GAWARDS H TS

YOUNG PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR Category Sponsor

Finalists

Ho Kuen Loon - Keppel Integrated Engineering

Simon Cameron - Lightfoot Travel Pte Ltd

Simon Thomas - United World College of South East Asia

Kuen Loon is the Chief Financial Officer of Keppel Integrated Engineering, the environmental engineering div.

Simon is the Founder & Managing Director of Lightfoot Travel, which along with his co-founders Nico Heath and Alice Stileman he established in Sept 09 after they identified a gap for a niche bespoke travel company.

Simon Thomas is the Director of Facilities and Operations, United World College of South East Asia.

He has held various appointments in Keppel, including Assistant General Manager, Keppel Offshore & Marine. After postgrad, he joined McKinsey & Company’s Corporate Finance practice, followed by Innosight Ventures.

Is MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Accountancy (Hon) from Singapore’s NTU. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and Certified Public Accountant.

Simon began his career during the dot com boom working for a technology incubator and investment company. In early 2002 Simon joined international consultancy firm GSG as founding shareholder. During 8 yrs with the firm the company grew from a 3 man London based start-up to a multinational with over 2000 employees worldwide.

For the last three years he has project managed the development of the College’s second campus, which was completed in June 2011.

Under his guidance, the 80,000 sqm., S$270 million project which contains the world’s largest solar powered air- conditioning system achieved Greenmark Platinum.

Winner David Pugh - The Fry Group The award category judge Mr. Anthony Lucas, Partner, Accenture said - “David received my highest scores due to his outstanding success in a very short time since joining his company. He receives my highest score for achieving record top personal sales achievements and also for his contribution to a 444% growth in sales turnover for his company during the first 3 months of the financial year. He has achieved record performance within 12 months of joining his company including promotion to GM (within 7 months of joining). His letters of recommendation also demonstrate his ability to contribute and make a positive difference to clients and external organizations.”

David Pugh and his team were very happy with the win, they were the first ones to pop open the Champagne bottles in celebration of their win. David said “The Fry Group highly regards the importance of the British Chamber of Commerce in supporting British business in Singapore. Winning one of their prestigious business awards is invaluable in promoting The Fry Group throughout South East Asia and so helping to further develop our business”.

12th ANNUAL BUSINESS AWARDS

BEST SMALL BUSINESS RISING STAR OF THE YEAR Category Sponsor

Finalists

Admira Pte Ltd

Centaurs Group Pte Ltd

Expat Insurance Pte Ltd

A corporate arm under Seng Lee International, Admira enlivens living spaces with its own class through its quality and sophisticated range of laminate designs.

Established in 2002 with 20 players, Centaurs Rugby membership currently stands at over 600 and is constantly growing. Centaurs has positioned itself as a leading youth rugby and outdoor activity provider in Singapore.

Expat Insurance is a leading provider of tailored insurance solutions for the unique needs of expatriates and Singapore’s business community.

Admira was incorporated to extend a trendy designer focus range of laminate products that reaches out to the modern urbanites seeking individual character style, with value added perspective and 35 years of business experience.

Centaurs Group plans, coordinates and constantly develops programmes for its business groups covering specific sport and fitness training, event management, multisports camps and parties.

They specialise in providing professional insurance advice on a complete portfolio of products including: Employer Benefit Programmes, Business Insurance and Medical, Home Contents & Valuables, Liability, Travel and Motor Insurance for individuals.

Winner Lightfoot Travel Pte Ltd Lightfoot Travel, came out as a shining star compared to others in the category. Lightfoot Travel launched bespoke travel services using individuals / employees with relevant experience in different parts of the target travel markets. It has also established a joint promotion with Amex Corporate Travel which can later be extended to other credit card companies as well as MICE companies.

“Lightfoot’s positioning in Singapore and Hong Kong, destinations that have the nouveau rich as well as traditional wealth is strategic. They can eventually expand into India as well catering to the expanding list of rich there. Lightfoot has also established relationships with strategic services providers. The margins in the bespoke travel are generally higher than for packaged tours. It is the growth potential of the company that makes it the ideal winner of the awards”; said Prof. Desai Narasimhalu, Director, Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, SMU, who was the judge for the award category.

On receiving the award, Nico Heath, Director Lightfoot Travel said, “It is hugely rewarding as we have worked hard for the last 2 years and to win the Best Small Business Rising Star award gives us great affirmation that we are on the right path. We are grateful to our clients who have supported us and our suppliers whom we have great relationships with. We hope to continue creating memorable holidays for our clients as well as reaching out to new clients, especially the corporate clients, whom we feel we can offer a lot of experiential travel solutions for”. When Nico was asked “How does it feel to be a winner?”, all he could say was: “Absolutely Stoked”.

PR O P E R T Y U P DAT E

BUSINESS SPACE DEVELOPERS UP THE ANTE

by Mr Aylwin Tan, Chief Customer Solutions Officer, Ascendas Pte Ltd

D

evelopers are raising the bar in business space.

From planning, design to construction and maintenance, creativity and innovation are ever present.

As Singapore’s economy becomes more sophisticated, companies stepping up their care for the environment, and a new generation of workers enters the workforce, developers seek to deliver the next generation of business space solutions.

Environmental awareness takes hold Across the world, there is a proliferation of green initiatives by both the government and industry for buildings and spaces to minimise carbon footprint and optimize energy usage.

Singapore developers are pushing the boundaries of green design in their projects, with the objective of translating these features into benefits for their customers. The Singapore Building and Construction Authority (BCA) supports such environment-friendly efforts by awarding property developers and building owners for efficient energy & water management, incorporating indoor environmental quality and environmental innovations in their projects. At the 2010 ASEAN Energy Awards, Singapore walked away with the honors for New and Existing Category (Tampines Grande by CDL), as well as Retrofitted Category (Fuji-Xerox Towers by CDL) of the ASEAN Best Practices for Energy Efficient Buildings.

Mr Tan Yew Chin, chief executive of Ascendas Land (Singapore), notes, “Designing buildings so that they use and produce fewer chemicals, are more energy efficient and sustainable are important PAG E 2 0

considerations in all new projects today.

Buildings which are older can be upgraded to be more energy efficient in accordance with today’s guidelines, it is just a question of cost for the building owner.”

The next generation of workers rise up While the conventional definition of prime office space is in the Central Business District (CBD), where rentals are higher, companies are increasingly seeing the benefits of locating their operations away from the CBD. Bigger spaces in the suburbs offer an opportunity for companies to centralise operations in one place at a lower cost, and allow their staff to escape the stress of CBD working life.

“Integrated communities”, a new concept to build on “worklive-play”, places emphasis on developing an environment where companies can better attract and retain talent, rather than a mixed development of infrastructure.

Developers now have to consider building specific multi-layered socio-economic fabric of mutually supporting industry clusters, business connectivity and alliances, to create a living eco-system of thriving businesses and talents within a community.

Competitive suburban work-live-play destinations cater to the Generation Y, the new generation of workers, people who are technologically savvy and embrace it as an important part of their lives. The Generation Y are willing to trade higher pay for flexible schedules and better work/life balance, more meaningful work and a solid learning curve.

spaces which are rarely found in CBD locations.

Enabling further business and industry growth A key success factor of Singapore’s industry development lies in its world class infrastructure, as well as the ability to create industry-specific developments that serve as enabling platforms. These platforms typically incorporate industry specific requirements of common utilities/ facilities, that help to lower companies’ investments, and at the same time, attracts the entire value chain of activities in close proximity to one another, thereby lowering the supply chain costs. The Jurong Island has gathered worldwide recognition as a platform to integrate more than 90 companies sharing common infrastructure and deriving tremendous operational efficiency. Other examples include the Seletar Aerospace Park, Tukang Innovation Park, and CleanTech Park.

Mr Tan added, “In this uncertain global economic environment, only a few things are certain. One of these is change. The changing needs of business and industry sectors will call for more specialisation and customisation.”

About the Author Mr Aylwin Tan Chief Customer Solutions Officer Ascendas Pte Ltd About the Company Ascendas is Asia’s leading provider of business space solutions. Renowned for quality infrastructure and lifestyle environments catering to business, Ascendas has an excellent track record as Asia’s premier developer and manager of business space. The company is present in more than 30 cities in 10 countries. http://www.ascendas.com/english/

The upcoming Changi City is another example of how high quality office space is integrated with lifestyle conveniences and includes a 313-room boutique business hotel, in close proximity to the MRT station, complete with greenery and wide open

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

LONDON’S SALES AND RENTAL MARKETS CONTINUE TO PROVE RESILIENT

by Anita Mehra, Managing Director of Benham and Reeves Residential Lettings Trends in the London property market It seems like a broken record, but yet again London’s rental and sales markets are in strong form.

The Nationwide house price index shows vividly how London sales are bucking the trend of the rest of the UK. “Quarterly price growth in London remained robust, with a seasonally adjusted price increase of 2.6%. London was the only region to see an annual price rise, up 2.9% on the same quarter one year ago” explains Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist.

financial institutions, often of Americans who rent when they relocate; The sustained popularity of London colleges for international students.

This increased demand does not lead to automatic rent rises when tenancies end - there are many factors including the position and condition of an apartment, and competition from nearby properties.

But whereas in the past the rental market often did the reverse of the sales market that is, it fell when sales were booming, and vice versa - today’s story is very different.

Both markets are doing well, and look set to continue that way through the autumn.

“London was the only area of the country to report a rise in prices, demonstrating that the capital is still operating under different market conditions to the rest of the country” says Ian Perry of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Supply to the rental market still remains unable to keep up with demand.

Analysts say this trend will continue because: Mortgage availability for first time buyers remains limited, obliging them to rent; Euro-zone tenants have taken 30% of new central London tenancies since the spring; There has been additional recruitment by

PAG E 2 1

Location is critical when selecting an agent for your property – it is not easy to let a property in Chelsea if your office is in Mayfair.

Above all, it is important not to rush into a decision when choosing an agent to let your London property. Do your research and find a local expert – it really is time well spent.

There are several reasons for this: Central London has a continued shortage of homes on sale despite increasing demand, especially from cash-rich overseas buyers; Again, in Central London, purchasers from countries with sovereign debt crises (eg, Greece, Italy and Portugal) seek properties as investments, while buyers from countries undergoing unrest (in the Middle East and North Africa) regard London as a ‘safe haven’; City bonuses fuel demand, with more viewings for homes close to central London; There are many new-build properties now being completed, ideal for potential landlords keen to meet an extremely strong rental demand.

agent may have sold over 100 apartments in a single development and now has to find a tenant for every one of them. He is unlikely to have an office local to the development and he will probably have minimal experience and few contacts – essential when it comes to concluding the best corporate tenancies and he will almost certainly be unprepared for the level of legal expertise involved in the letting process.

Beaufort Park in North West London, average yields of 5-8%,

OVERSEAS PROPERTY INVESTMENT Choosing the right agent is critical for a successful London buy-to-let investment, particularly for landlords living outside the UK Investing in property is not always as easy as it might seem, especially when investing in other countries. Many investors buy properties from developers and sales agents at a property exhibition and it often seems like an ideal solution to use the same agent to handle the sale and the letting too – it seems easier. But once you’ve completed the sale, you can find yourself several weeks down the line with a property that is still not let, and still not bringing in an income.

Benham and Reeves are offering readers of The Orient a special deal for landlords: ask us to manage your property and we will give you the first three months free of charge!

For more information contact Lynne Geeves at Benham and Reeves Lettings Singapore on 6463 6026 or email singapore@brlets. com About the Company Established in 1956 in Hampstead, London, and now with 9 offices in the prime residential areas of London and overseas in 4 locations, Benham and Reeves Residential Lettings is recognised as one of London’s largest, specialist lettings and property management agencies. To complement this, they also provide a furnishings and property refurbishment service for London rental investment properties to landlords based worldwide.

The fact is that a lot of sales agents operate a lettings service as a sideline – it is usually marketed as a ploy to pull in sales. The

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

PR O P E R T Y U P DAT E

CENTRAL LONDON RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY UPDATE 2011

by Vanessa Chan, Senior Sales & Marketing Manager, DST International

F

lip through the local papers these days and you will see anywhere from four to five London developments being advertised. Quite a stark difference from pre-crisis levels when there were only a handful of developments with one or two marketing agents in the market.

The demand for London properties is driven by a combination of factors, such as the cooling measures in the local property market, strong Singapore dollar, low interest rates, eurozone crisis and high yield.

Singapore Property Impact on Demand for London Property Firstly, the cooling measures enforced by the local government such as the antispeculative stamp duty of 16 per cent and lower Loan-To-Value (LTV) limit have proven very effective. The steep increase in Singapore private property prices in the last two years has also spurred many investors to look for better investment opportunities in overseas markets.

Favourable Exchange Rate Secondly, the exchange rate continues to favour Singapore investors with the Sterling pound having fallen against the Singdollar by approximately 35% since the 2008 financial crisis. The Singapore dollar was S$3.10 to a £1 back in 2006 and today in 2011 is approximately S$1.95 to a £1. This currency saving is an instant benefit.

Historical All Time Low UK Interest Rates and More Financing Options Thirdly, low interest rates continue to offer strong value in London. The central Bank of England (BOE) cut its key interest rate to 0.5% in 2008 and looks set to maintain after the BOE’s Monetary Policy Committee vote on 8 September 2011. More financial institutions such as UOB and OCBC, are also rolling out London property home loan packages. The increased financing options facilitate a smoother investment transaction.

Recent Equity Market Volatility and PAG E 2 2

Eurozone Financial Crisis Central London residential property prices have been increasing steadily and especially so in the last six months because of economic, political instability in various countries.

Local and foreign buyers are continuously looking to London as a ‘financial safe haven’ because of its strong fundamentals.

London is an established global market that appeals to the international audience because it is in between time zones and has a stable legal constitution. With increasing uncertainty and volatility in the equity markets, investors are looking for safe and high-yielding assets and London residential property provide that option.

Fundamentals of London Property People want London because the fundamentals of London residential property remain strong and it continues to outperform all other UK asset classes.

In addition, non-UK tax residents are also exempted from capital gains tax.

There is no restriction on purchasing and selling London properties, coupled with a transparent legal system, this makes London very attractive for Singapore investors as a medium to long-term investment.

Central London Sales and Lettings Property Market London prices remain resilient with capital values forecast to grow by 30% by 2015 and rental values are at high levels and looking to increase by 16% year-on-year.

The London property market suffers from a demand-supply disequilibrium in both sales and rental markets, which will continue to send prices soaring.

It suffers from a shortage of homes on sale because of a few factors. The recent financial crisis has also crippled both home buyers and house builders. Home buyers have found it progressively harder to save a deposit for some time but that trend has intensified since the financial crisis.

House builders are finding it difficult and expensive to obtain financing, resulting in a decline of new homes being built.

Yet, demand for London residential property is on the rise. The population density in central areas has increased due to an influx of immigrants and individuals moving out of family homes. Foreign demand is driven by the currency saving and instability back home. This demandsupply disequilibrium in the rental market means investors are able to demand higher rents to offset higher interest rates.

In the rental market, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has a clear message: ‘Supply to the market still remains unable to keep up with demand.

Tenants are staying longer, resulting in less availability, while fewer landlords are selling at the end of a tenancy.’

Outlook Overseas demand is expected to remain strong, especially if sterling remains weak against the dollar as predicted. Domestic demand is likely to be more subdued, but we still expect it to be reasonable.

About the Author Vanessa Chan, Senior Sales & Marketing Manager Company Profile DST International is a Property Services company established in 1998 to market new and refurbished residential and commercial properties around the world, particularly in London, New York, and Singapore.

We operate in close coordination with organizations world-wide to bring you the preferred properties providing professional consultancy services to meet both investment and residency needs around the world.

L3010002F

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

PR O P E R T Y U P DAT E

SINGAPORE RESIDENTIAL MARKET

by Alan Cheong, Associate Director, Savills Research & Consultancy

T

he residential market has been the subject of intense debate among home buyers, lessees and lessors, speculators, investors, developers and policy makers. It is perhaps understandable why this sector has become a hot potato when we realize that private property prices have risen 52% since the depth of the Global Financial Crisis in Q2/2009. For public (HDB) resale flats, it rose by 29% over the same period, which though not as great a rise as private properties, but nonetheless became a politically charged topic.

Bearing in mind the recent financial turmoil, Q3/2011 residential prices is forecast to be flat to rising marginally by 1% over Q2/2011. Owing to a more subdued market in Q3/2011 and provided the turmoil does not span past a quarter nor create further sharp falls in financial markets, we forecast a rise of between 0.9 and 1.3% for Q4/2011.

The rapid pace of price increase coupled with increasing supply and fears of policy intervention has naturally made both market participants and analysts nervous about the future direction of the market.

Are their fears justified or are they based on a mix of hearsays with selective facts?

Short-term Historically, this sector of the property market has reacted almost entirely to exogenous events rather than policies which have thus far not been strong enough to impact it negatively.

Reaction of Private Residential Prices To Exogenous and Endogenous Events Our research shows that private residential prices have a 2-Quarter memory, meaning prices are affected by those achieved up to 2 quarters back. With this, our model forecast a 2.1% rise in prices for 3Q/2011 over 2Q/2011, predicated on the external environment being in steady state.

PAG E 2 4

The latest Concept Plan 2001 mapped out the vision for Singapore in the next 40 to 50 years based on a population scenario of 5.5 million. That implies a ceiling population of 5.5 million by 2040 – 2050. However, in the year 2010, just 9 years after the last Concept Plan was unveiled, Singapore’s population has risen to 5.08 million (in the 2000 Census, the population was 4.03 million).

Prima facie, it appears that Singapore’s population growth is running ahead of its time as envisaged in the Concept Plan.

To answer this question, one has to break down the analysis into 2 time frames, short term and medium to long term.

Population Under girding the real estate market here is a spatial design called the Concept Plan.

The Concept Plan is a broad, strategic, long term land use and transportation plan updated once every 10 years to guide Singapore’s physical development.

Source: Savills, URA Owing to the 2 quarter memory of prices, it is by no means a certainty that the residential market here has turned down with conviction. Thus far, feedback from the ground isn’t telling a story that prices are falling in any significant manner and therefore, should the air of uncertainty clear within 2 quarters, the market may still have enough momentum to carry on moving upwards.

The 2011 Concept Plan is working on a population of 6.5 million, that is over a 40 – 50 year horizon. Whether the population gets to 6.5 million well before 2050 or not does not matter, the fact of the matter is that the wholesale importation of headcount is necessary to ensure that the land set aside for development (Marina South, Marina East, Kallang Basin District, Paya Lebar District, Jurong East District etc) is well absorbed.

Other short-term risks that the residential market faces are expected to be mainly exogenous. These include, but by no means exhaustive, pandemics, curbs on China’s copious liquidity and change in monetary policy (from an Exchange rate to an Interest rate regime or a hybrid).

Although the 6.5 million population parameter is not a target, it is difficult to comprehend how the spatial and volumetric plans can be filled without the need for greater immigration as Singapore’s population is ageing. Presently, 1 in 10 is over the age of 65. By 2055, the ratio deteriorates to 1 in 4. What this means is, unless the Concept Plan is altered radically, to ensure that the economically productive land uses (in particular the commercial sector) are taken up, more foreigners and PRs than is presently here is anticipated. To house these new headcounts, residential supply has to increase.

Medium to Long Term Looking beyond the short-term vicissitudes of the market, there are medium to longterm drivers of the residential market here.

From the recent past, immigration has a strong bearing on how prices of residential properties here performed. The figure below attests to that.

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

Strong Exchange Rate & Weak Association with Interest Rates Singapore uses both productivity and exchange rate to combat imported inflation. Since 2000 to Aug 2011, the Singapore dollar has been appreciating at a compounded rate of 2.8% pa. With no interest rate policy, rates are indifferent to asset price inflation and would mostly mirror the benign rates (which the Fed already said would remain so till at least 2013). Even if interest rates were to rise, we believe that unless the 3 month interbank rate moves above 3.1%, and a return to the pre-2000 market structure, it will have little bearing on prices.

Interest rates only had an impact on residential transactions from 1996 – 1999.

Thereafter, it did not have any significant impact. This is postulated from the series of negative outliers that beset first decade of the new millennia like the dot-com bubble bursting, SARs and the Global Financial Crisis, all of which broke the traditional

PAG E 2 5

interest rate/transactions relationship. On top of that immigration policies added a new dimension in that it opened up a global source of demand to the market.

(It should be noted that whilst interest rates do not appear to have any impact on transactions, it does not mean that the economic relationship does not exist. It could just be that the intervening factors merely masked out its impact.)

Expectations The adage that real estate is a superior hedge against inflation has already been ingrained into the social fabric of Singaporeans (and Asians as well). Over the past 21 ½ years, residential property prices have grown at a compounded rate of 6.1% pa. Singapore’s inflation rate compounded at 1.8% pa over the same period.

With expectations of long term capital appreciation cast into the mindset of buyers and owners, it will be very difficult to overcome this mental bulwark.

Conclusion In the final analysis, the Singapore residential market appears to be facing choppy waters, but upon closer examination of the background developments and underlying drivers of the market, these concerns could be overcome. Singapore’s drive to be a global private banking centre will draw liquidity into the system, breaking down or loosening the historical association between the residential and financial markets. This is a new variable which buttresses the residential market from being shaken down. Ultimately, the market is inherently inflationary biased.

Therefore investors or genuine home owners trying to time the market for this sector of the property market has this element of inflation to contend with. For the residential market, timing may not be everything after all.

About the Author Alan is the Associate Director of Research & Consultancy in Singapore with responsibility for market research and consultancy, specialising in overseeing the various real estate and hospitality sectors.

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

PR O P E R T Y U P DAT E

NEW STOCK ARRIVING IN THE SINGAPORE RESIDENTIAL MARKET

by Dr Chua Yang Liang, Head of Research, South-East Asia, Jones Lang LaSalle

S

ome analysts have argued that the Singapore residential market will see a correction in 2014/2015 due to the large amount of stock expected to complete over that period. An average of 50,000 housing units (public and private) per year is expected be ready in 2014 and 2015 – equivalent to 2.5 times the average yearly stock completed since 2001 or just about 4.0% of the current housing stock of 1.1 million. Comparatively, this is a quarter of the peak seen in 2003 when over 68,000 housing units were added to the stock.

In our opinion, which is based on three fundamental drivers, the residential market will not contract as a result of this growth.

First, over the past decade, the Singapore residential market has seen hardly any correction based on stock level alone; despite the large supply that came in 1998, island-wide property prices remain fairly stable. Second, the growth in population over the past few years has outpaced that in physical housing stock, suggesting that the overall size of national households (including all residents regardless of status) has been rising. Thus, the gap between the short- and long-term balances of housing stock is currently wider than in 1998, suggesting that the residual demand backlog is likely to help keep prices steady.

Finally, immigration is unlikely to stop, as articulated by Prime Minister Lee in his National Day Rally speech. In our estimate, immigration growth this year is likely be slightly lower than in 2010, at about 2-3%, to support the country’s fundamental economic growth. Demand for housing is therefore likely to remain fairly stable and support the injection of new stock over the next few years.

Housing market and population growth According to the 2000 census, there were some 4.02 million people in Singapore, 20% of whom, or about 754,000, were non-residents. By the next census in 2010, the population had jumped to 5.1 million, with non-residents accounting for 25%, equivalent to 1.3 million – an increase of PAG E 2 6

over 7.0% per annum. On the other hand, the resident population (i.e. Citizens and Permanent Residents) grew 1.9% per annum.

However, total housing stock (private and public) during this same period grew only from 956,275 to 1,158,885 units; equivalent to a 2.1% per annum expansion. The net effect is that the size of the average national household expanded from 4.21 people in 2000 to 4.37 people in 2010. The average household size since 2000 has been about 4.08.

on the residential market over the next few years? To address this issue, we need to understand the relationship between the rate of new household formation (either from first marriages of citizens/residents or from newly arrived immigrants) and the annual completion of new housing stock.

For the purposes of this paper, housing occupier demand is based on Jones Lang LaSalle’s housing demand model, which separates the housing needs of local citizens and permanent residents from those of new immigrants. The completion of housing stock is estimated from URA and HDB data, which include the most recent government announcement to increase the stock of public housing to 25,000 units per year. This completion of housing stock is then matched against housing occupier demand in each year to arrive at the shortterm (annual) balance of housing stock. The long-term balance is the cumulative sum of this annual housing stock balance over time.

Average household size rising with population growth As a result of the larger households, demand for new housing has been pressing. Property prices in terms of the URA’s Property Price Index (PPI) continued to show strong gains over that period, especially in 2006/2007 when islandwide property prices expanded 31% and again in 2009/2010, when they rose 18%.

Convinced by the strong demand and rising prices, developers have continued to push out new projects with an average of 12,000 housing units per year since 2006, up 82% over the annual average of 6,600 units between 1998 and 2005. With the new stock coming onto the market over the next couple of years, the size of the average household should decrease to 3.9 people, assuming that the population growth slows to just 5.2 million by 2015.

Impact of housing stock balance on property prices What is the probable effect of the completion of this large amount of stock

Large housing stock deficit in recent years Historically, the PPI is sentiment-driven The impact of the short- and long-term balance of housing stock on property prices as measured by the URA’s PPI is shown in Chart 3. It is commonly accepted that the Singapore residential market is driven largely by sentiment. The PPI has recorded major corrections at two time points since 1998, namely between 2000 and 2001, and between 2007 and 2008.

This was despite the fundamental issue of stock shortage (indicated by the light and dark blue bars below the zero mark) in both periods. However, once the initial shock was over, the market responded normally.

For example, in the most recent correction

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

in 2007-08, the balance of housing stock remained in deficit (with both blue bars below the zero level), which supported the quick recovery, at 20%, seen in the two years following the initial correction of 5.0%.

Two recent corrections in PPI were externally driven

Long-term population target assumes immigration likely to continue Even using the URA’s population planning criteria, the growth rate may be too low. We think that maintaining the resident growth rate at the level seen in 2010, while keeping the foreign population growth a little lower, is more appropriate. Given this, we could potentially be home to some 5.5 million people by 2015. If that figure materialises, new housing stock may be insufficient to meet annual housing demand, keeping the balance of housing stock in deficit and, as a result, expanding property prices by 7.5% per year.

assumption that the Singapore economy will remain fairly stable in line with the regional economy. Should conditions worsen beyond that of a technical recession in the second half of 2011, we would expect the PPI to drop. However, we are confident that the PPI would then recover in the midto longer-term in line with the underlying fundamental of residual demand and new immigration growth.

Residual demand to continue supporting the market Going forward, the large surplus in the annual balance of housing stock will not be sufficient to drive the cumulative balance of housing stock into positive territory until 2015. Based on past and current trends, outstanding or residual housing demand (as further evidenced by the larger size of the average national household) is likely to continue to supply occupiers (potential homebuyers) over the next few years. The PPI is not likely to see a large correction but maintain a more modest growth, averaging some 1.8% per year until 2015.

About the Author Dr Chua Yang Liang Head of Research, South-East Asia Jones Lang LaSalle Low cumulative stock causes property prices to rise Whatever the immigration level, the balance of housing stock is not enough to cause the PPI to dip, at least not in the immediate future. The outlook beyond 2015 will depend on the actual state immigration policy. In our opinion, population growth is unlikely to be lower than we have seen in the past and it makes sense to keep to the 6.5 million people set out in the 2000 Concept Plan.

Summary

Cumulative stock not likely to tip property prices In this first case, we have assumed that the population will reach only 6.5 million by 2050, in line with the URA’s long-term population estimate used for planning purposes. The 5.5 million that the former Minister of National Development Mah Bow Tan stated is, in our opinion, too low, given that the current population is already 5.1 million.

PAG E 2 7

Based on the three fundamental issues of historical behaviour, we have argued that large residual demand and longterm population growth targets will likely support the housing market going forward.

The physical stock surplus over the next few years is not sufficient to lead to a major dip in the PPI, although we can expect PPI growth to slow to an average of 1.8% at worst or 7.5% if the immigration inflow continues.

Dr Chua Yang Liang leads the Jones Lang LaSalle research teams in the South-East Asia region, encompassing Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Trained as an urban planner, Dr Chua brings to the Firm a different perspective to the fundamental research on the property market. He publishes original research on regular property market updates, rental and price indices, topical property market matters, as well as consultancy assignments a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society.

We do not expect the PPI to change any time soon. However, this is based on the

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

PR O P E R T Y U P DAT E

UK HOUSE PRICES FALLING, BUT LONDON PRICES STILL ON THE UP

by Neil Chegwidden, Director Residential Research, Jones Lang LaSalle, London

T

he RICS Housing Market Survey, the Land Registry, Hometrack and Rightmove are all now claiming that house prices in the UK are falling. The price falls reported, however, are quite small month on month. To confuse matters slightly, both Nationwide and Lloyds/Halifax house price indices, which use house price data at mortgage approval stage, report that UK house prices are still rising. The fact that there are some conflicting indicators, but that most measures claim that prices are falling slightly, suggests that house prices are indeed falling marginally month on month.

Although there may be some debate about the direction of UK house prices, there is certainly no doubt that London house prices are increasing. All house price measures Jones Lang LaSalle Half Page.pdf 3/12/2011 3:04:51 PM confirm this upward trend.

PAG E 2 8

Even though we have a plethora of housing market measures and indicators in the UK it is still unclear in which direction the market will head during the second half of this year. The balance of surveyors reporting house price falls as opposed to rises in the preceding three months declined from 52% in October 2010 to just 16% in April 2011. In May the balance increased to 23% but fell back to 22% in June.

This suggests that prices are falling but that the rate of decline is quite stable. As commented on in previous editions of Pulse, we have warned to keep an eye on the number of properties on the market. This increased sharply in May, according to the RICS, but fell back slightly again in June. But the most recent Rightmove survey rather worryingly claims that 70% of all properties marketed

during 2011 are still on the market. This latest statistic confirms our stance that the number of available properties is the key variable to track over the next few months.

About the Author Neil Chegwidden Director Residential Research Jones Lang LaSalle, London

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

SINGAPORE OFFICE RENTS MODERATE TO A SUSTAINABLE PACE

by Chris Archibold, International Director, Head of Markets Office Leasing Singapore

O

ver the past few years Singapore has seen uncharacteristically volatile rents in the office market. Whilst rents have always been cyclical the market cycles in the early and mid nineteen nineties fluctuated between around S$6.00 - 11.00 per sq ft per month whereas 2008 saw rents climb to S$18.40 per sq ft per month then fall back to S$7.95 per sq ft per month during the financial crisis. Since then rents have grown once again with 20% growth in 2010 and 7% and 1.5% growth respectively in the 1st and 2nd quarters of 2011.

lion sq ft in 2H11, or about 7.5% of total CBD Core stock, with about 1.2 million sq ft of uncommitted space in the new developments and 800,000 sq ft of space given up by tenants relocating to the newer buildings. This will likely moderate rental increases in the next six months.

Demand for office space in the CBD Core remains strong and as the rental growth for the past few quarters had also been strong we expect some moderation in 2H11. While vacancy is likely to increase, possibly to the tune of around 10 - 11% in the CBD Core by

When you look at the financial services industry in isolation, Ministry of manpower numbers show that finance jobs have increased from 120,000 to 170,000 over the last 6 years, i.e job growth of 50,000 jobs.

This increase translates to an increased demand for office space of 6 million sq ft (based on 120 sq ft per person).

The change in demand from businesses has resulted in the construction of new large floor plate developments that will serve to keep Singapore attractive to MNC’s. By 2016 over 25% of Singapore’s CBD stock will be less than 5 years old.

Looking forward and analysing future demand and supply it would be our view that we have a supply = demand situation which should provide a healthy environment. Too much supply would cause developers to pull back from future development and not enough supply would inhibit the growth of jobs. An even supply / demand situation should also stabilise rents allowing occupiers some certainty of cost and investors to make a reasonable return on their investments. Currently Singapore rents at S$10.15 per sq ft pm look cheap against HK at S$19.12 per sq ft pm.

Rental growth in the Singapore office market moderated in 2Q11. Jones Lang LaSalle’s preliminary estimates of the average CBD Prime Grade A gross effective rent showed $10.15 per sq ft per month in 2Q11 up from $10.00 per sq ft per month in 1Q11.

This translates to a 27.7% y-o-y increase from $7.95 in 2Q10.

The marked up trend in terms of rents is inline with a number of key changes in Singapore’s overall economy and the office market itself. The last 10 years has seen Singapore reposition itself as a financial hub and has now become one of the four key global financial markets along with London, New York and Hong Kong.

Jones Lang LaSalle expects available space in the CBD Core to increase by about 2 milPAG E 2 9

end 2011, we are currently seeing a healthy level of absorption. Our view is that the take up of the new developments and the better quality buildings that have current or future pockets of vacancy is likely to pick up pace as they become available. With a steady stream of supply announced for the next five years, a reoccurrence of the severe shortage of office space in 2008 is unlikely.

Much of the expansion over the past 5 years has come from the financial services industry, insurance and from legal firms. Expansion in financial services and insurance has been predominantly existing companies taking on more staff and therefore taking more office space. The legal sector has seen both existing practices taking on more staff and a number of new entrants to Singapore.

About the Author Chris Archibold CEA Registration No. R021982J International Director Head of Markets Office Leasing Singapore Current Responsibilities Chris Archibold is an International Director and Head of Markets. He is responsible for the delivery of transactional and advisory services to our clients in Singapore. Chris is also a member of the Markets Executive Committee.

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

INS I D E B R I TA I N

UK FDI REVIEW & TECH CITY

by Lord Green, Minister of State for Trade and Investment

I

nvestment has always been a sign of confidence. And confidence has been in short supply over the past few years as a credit crisis and now a sovereign debt crisis affect many parts of the world.

That is why it makes it all the more gratifying that so many companies still see the UK as the best place to invest in Europe.

The inward investment results we have just announced show that despite global uncertainty, the UK is still one of the most attractive investment locations for foreign businesses.

These results show that last year nearly 94,000 jobs were created or safeguarded because of foreign companies investing in the UK. Every day four companies made the decision to invest here.

UK Trade & Investment in Singapore has supported 40% more investment projects this year than last. In fact, according to the latest statistics from Singapore, 80% of all Singaporean Foreign Direct Investment into the European Union, went to the UK. Companies who have decided to invest have made a long term decision. They have taken a view that if they invest their time and money they will get a return in better products, better services and better profits.

They are right. In recent months, new investors such as eG Innovations, a leading provider of IT infrastructure performance monitoring and management solutions, and SyQic, a deliverer of new media solutions for broadcasters and telecommunication businesses, have recognised the UK as a springboard to the rest of the world. As well as having excellent connections to Europe, North America is just a few hours away. eG Innovations have made the UK their headquarters for European operations, with a projected 20% of their global revenue being generated from Europe.

of every Airbus plane, and responsible for developing or discovering fifteen of the world’s 75 top-selling medicines.

make sure the UK remains the best place to invest and grow in Europe.

London has retained its enviable status as the world’s leading centre for finance and creative industries - a sector that goes from film and fashion to architecture and the media.

Over the next few years the UK will begin an ambitious programme to modernise roads, utilities, ports railways and digital communications, to ensure we have the ideal infrastructure to support businesses well into the future.

The UK has the most extensive broadband market in the G7, four of the world’s top six universities and is already a net exporter of low carbon goods and services.

Infrastructure is itself a major investment opportunity and over the next few years we want to encourage companies working in this field to think about investing in the UK.

And we now boast the world’s largest installed capacity of offshore wind electricity generation. When it comes to low-carbon technology we are committed to being forward-thinking and working with our international partners to have the most up-to-date technology available.

Our strategy is a whole-of-Government approach to supporting investors’ interests in the UK. Through all departments we will support investors and make this their location of choice to set up and to grow.

Foreign investment, of course, helps the UK in all sorts of ways, not least in the number of jobs created. So investing is not a zerosum game. It can benefit everyone.

The UK is a place of long-term success. That is why we are one of the most open nations in the world.

But we are not stopping there. We want to expand the opportunities for investment that will deliver profits, create jobs and

We believe passionately in being open to business, because we know that when foreign companies invest and succeed, we can succeed too.

TECH CITY Tech City is fast becoming the digital capital of Europe. Home to one of the largest concentrations of small, fastgrowing digital technology companies in Europe, Tech City in East London has expanded from just 15 firms in 2008 to over 300 today. This strong organic growth is being accelerated by

We have an excellent research and development base with UK expertise being behind 90 per cent of the chips used in mobile phones, involved in half

PAG E 3 0

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

About the Author Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint is the Minister of State for Trade and Investment.

Biography Lord Green began his career with the British Government’s Ministry of Overseas Development. In 1977, he joined McKinsey & Co Inc, management consultants, with whom he undertook assignments in Europe, North America and the Middle East.

He joined The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited in 1982 with responsibility for corporate planning activities, and, in 1985, was put in charge of the development of the bank’s global treasury operations. In 1992, he became Group Treasurer of HSBC Holdings plc, with responsibility for the HSBC Group’s treasury and capital markets businesses globally.

the deep involvement of global market leaders such as Intel, Facebook, Vodafone, Qualcomm, Silicon Valley Bank, BT and McKinsey & Company. Indeed, Google has announced plans to launch a hub in Tech City to enable its researchers to collaborate with developers and academics in creating next-generation applications and services, while Cisco has recently announced plans for a £100 million investment to support entrepreneurship and innovation.

The commercial advantages of Tech City are clear – technology companies benefit from: • like-minded technology innovators, mentors and companies, • Europe’s largest business angel and venture capital community, • priority area status for super-fast broadband deployment, • competitive property costs, • world-class transport links, and • close proximity to four of the world’s PAG E 3 1

leading universities – Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial College London and University College London.

UK Trade & Investment is working closely with technology companies and entrepreneurs keen to take advantage of the benefits of operating in Tech City. This focused approach has led to the recent establishment of the entrepreneur-led Tech City Investment Organisation (TCIO) which aims to help make East London one of the world’s great technology centres and the location of choice for technologybased entrepreneurs and companies across the value chain. TCIO provides innovative companies with a range of specialist services, including strategic advice and a world-leading mentoring programme.

In March 1998, he was appointed to the Board of HSBC Holdings plc as Executive Director, Investment Banking and Markets responsible for the investment banking, private banking and asset management activities of the Group. He assumed additional responsibility for the Group’s corporate banking business in May 2002. He became Group Chief Executive on 1 June 2003 and Group Chairman on 26 May 2006.

Lord Green became Chairman of the British Bankers’ Association in November 2006.

On 24 May 2010, he was elected Deputy President of the Confederation of British Industry, and on 1 July 2010 he was elected Vice-Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce. A trustee of The British Museum, he is also an honorary trustee of Peking University. In April 2009 he was appointed a non-executive director of BASF SE. Stephen Green is married with two daughters.

www.techcityuk.com www.facebook.com/UKinSG

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

ECO N O M I C & B U S I N E S S I N S I GHTS

GLOBAL STAFF MOBILITY: WHY TEAM WORK IS THE WAY FORWARD

by Grahame Wright, Partner, Human Capital, Ernst & Young Solutions LLP

F

or many companies, global staff mobility is part and parcel of their strategy. However, tax and legal compliance risks related to international employee assignments are growing rapidly.

Companies’ tax, legal and HR departments should cooperate closely to reduce those risks and related costs, ensuring an effective approach to global mobility. Collaboration needs to replace internal silos which have developed over the years.

Over the last few years, tax compliance risks related to global employee mobility have grown rapidly. Scrutiny of international postings by tax authorities has become far more prevalent and deep-reaching, with both the number and sophistication of risk-based audits increasing significantly.

Tax authorities exchange more information with one another, and they view globally mobile employees as an attractive source of additional revenue in a time of growing fiscal deficits.

As a result, the incidence of penalty demands has shot up dramatically. Recently, a European company was fined close to one million euro for under-withholding tax due on the share-based remuneration of one employee on an international assignment.

The results of Ernst & Young’s 2010 Global Mobility Effectiveness Survey show that many companies are aware of these taxrelated risks and are taking appropriate actions. When asked for the main areas in their global mobility process where they saw compliance risks, 59% of respondents mentioned “income tax reporting and withholding,” the highest percentage of all.

How can companies best mitigate these increasing tax compliance risks?

Outsourcing tax and legal compliance to external providers is one of the answers.

In the often complex world of global staff mobility, even big multinational companies will find it hard to keep up to date with all developments across all the countries in which they have compliance obligations.

Because of that very complexity, leaving PAG E 3 2

income tax issues to the international assignees themselves to resolve is a very risky option indeed, especially at a time when corporate reputations are under more scrutiny than ever.

However, outsourcing to experts is only one part of the solution. Within the company itself, the current risk environment requires close collaboration between tax, legal and HR teams. Only close collaboration between internal and external people involved will enable a company to define and implement solid processes for its global employee mobility strategy, processes that take into account all the relevant tax, legal and HR issues. Such an integrated approach by the company itself is a necessary condition for efficient cooperation with external experts.

Unfortunately, many companies do not adopt such an integrated approach. All too often, there is a clear disconnect between tax, legal and HR. In some companies, each department resembles a silo, relishing its “splendid isolation.” As a result, knowledge and experience regarding global employee mobility is scattered, partial and incomplete.

For instance, according to the same Ernst & Young 2010 Global Mobility Effectiveness Survey, 57% of organizations have achieved cost savings in global mobility during the last year, but 56% said they have only rough estimates of the savings and another 35% stated that they did not know what had been saved. At a more anecdotal level, we recently asked an HR manager, responsible for global mobility at a large company, in how many countries the company had employees. The answer was 120. When we asked his counterpart from the tax department in how many countries the company had entities, the answer was 91.

Both managers were clearly puzzled by the significant difference between these two numbers.

where HR drafts and signs contracts for international assignments that are high risk from a tax compliance point of view.

We also know examples, however, of tax and legal departments minimizing their “own” compliance risk at the expense of an increase of other risks. For example, if tax and legal “dictate” that all contracts with a group of international assignees should be exclusively with the company in the host country, this may raise exchange rate issues, social security issues and tensions between local employees and expatriates in the host countries.

The only way forward is teamwork: collaboration between tax, legal, HR and the outsourcing partner. Since thinking only of the interests of one department at a time can be engrained in an organization, there is a clear task here for top management.

They must insist on the formation of interdisciplinary teams to deal with global employee mobility in an integrated and comprehensive way.

Some companies have already taken this path. They are showing in practice that working together is more fruitful for tax, legal and HR than ignoring each other.

Other companies should quickly follow their example, especially now that the tax and legal compliance risks of global staff mobility are rapidly increasing.

A full copy of the Ernst & Young 2010 Global Mobility Effectiveness Survey can be downloaded at www.ey.com/GMES2010

About the Author

Grahame Wright, Partner, Human Capital, Ernst & Young Solutions LLP

Too often, different departments ignore each other’s legitimate concerns until it is too late. As HR still typically “owns” the global mobility program, examples abound

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

STILL BACKING CHINA STOCKS: FOOLHARDY OR JUST PHLEGMATIC?

by Matthew Gorman Partner, Head of Corporate Stephenson Harwood, Singapore

The problems that have blighted Singaporelisted Chinese companies (or S Chips) in recent years are well known. Both on the SGX Main Board and Catalist, accounting irregularities, corporate governance failings and a host of other misdemeanours including seemingly blatant fraud, have resulted in trading suspensions, director sanctions and, in some cases, de-listings.

Indeed, according to SGX figures, at least 20 Chinese firms on the exchange, where one in five stocks are China-based, have been suspended or ordered to de-list since 2008.

There were 152 China-based firms listed on Singapore’s market at the end of June 2011, according to SGX. As a result, many Singaporean investors appear to have turned their backs on stocks from one of the world’s fastest growing economies. The Straits Times China Index of 63 Chinese stocks has lost 11 percent this year, compared with a 2 percent fall PAG E 3 3

in the Straits Times Index. Consequently (and even allowing for the general malaise in world markets) the number of new S Chip listings in Singapore has tailed off dramatically in the last few years.

Rightly, SGX clearly has ambitions to maintain its position as a leading global bourse (as evidenced by its recent bid for ASX and a host of other laudable initiatives including the tie up with OMX. Of course, one of the difficulties in measuring the true extent to which investors and sponsors are avoiding such stocks lies in the fact that only the success stories (and late stage failures) are generally visible.

It is therefore interesting in this context to contrast this with the current scene in London where Chinese counters might be said to be enjoying continued favour or at least a revival of fortunes (albeit to a lesser extent than in the heady days of 2006/7).

This is evidenced in part by a series of recent listings on AIM and continued marketing efforts by a range of London market participants in China (and elsewhere in Asia) which suggest that investors in London are either failing to take note of the alarm bells ringing in Raffles Place or are confident that they can identify and properly evaluate the better prospects.

Another explanation could be that the risk profile attached to AIM companies, in particular, anticipates a percentage of corporate failures in a way that some other markets do not, pricing in that risk but still facilitating the taking of the risk.

On the listings front, new issuers include China New Energy, a Guangzhou based provider of EPC and related services to the industrial ethanol sector, which joined AIM in May, and Dongfang Shipbuilding, which made its debut in August. Dongfang’s principal business is in the building of

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

ECO N O M I C & B U S I N E S S I N S I GHTS

multi-purpose containerships and chemical tankers and the repair of vessels at its two shipyards located in Anhui and Zhejiang provinces.

Indeed, London’s appetite for things Chinese appears to be getting more exotic rather than less. As recently as June of this year, Albany Capital, a London-based private equity firm and investors in AIM, hosted a capital markets seminar in Hothot, capital of Inner Mongolia, to promote London as a listing venue. Although the event was initiated by an invitation from the major of Hothot rather than being driven directly by the UK investment community McLean was more than happy to participate. The Hothot event continues a trend of similar events held throughout China.

One aspect of Albany Capital’s investment approach which may help to explain its continued interest in Chinese stocks is that, it is heavily engaged at the management and operational level.

Raphael Tham, Singapore-based CEO of China Food Company believes this to be a key feature of Albany Capital’s success with both China Food Company and Sorbic International although neither he nor McLean would claim that this is an absolute PAG E 3 4

failsafe against some risks. Like McLean, Tham remains a strong advocate of publicly listed Chinese companies.

So what conclusions, if any, can be drawn from all this? In my view there are a number of clear themes: • First, and perhaps most encouragingly, for international bourses generally, there continues to be a healthy level of interest in overseas listings amongst Chinese companies.

• Second, corporate failures and scandals whilst always disappointing, are a statistical reality of well-established exchanges with a diverse constituency. They play their part in helping the rules to evolve in a way that benefits future issuers and investors alike.

• Third, it is the responsibility of all market participants – including issuers – to respond to such problems in a way that improves the future landscape for all.

About the Author

Matthew Gorman is a Partner and Head of Corporate at international law firm Stephenson Harwood in Singapore, where he provides strategic advice to both private and public companies in various industries and from countries throughout Asia on joint ventures, corporate restructurings, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, venture capital and initial public offerings (IPOs). He also has particular expertise in advising companies, international financial institutions and intermediaries on transactions on the London Stock Exchange and its AIM market in particular.

• Fourth, investor appetites will wax and wane for many and varied reasons not all of which will be consistent across different exchanges at any point in time.

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

share in our success in Asia When making investment decisions it makes sense to be guided by the experts.

Our Executive Investment Account has just been awarded Best Single Premium Investment Product (Far East) in the International Life Awards 2010. And our Investment Account won Best New Product (Far East) in 2009. These were voted for by an independent panel, appointed by ‘International Adviser’, a recognised publication for global investment advice.

Royal Skandia is a premier offshore provider that truly understands your financial goals. Please ask your financial adviser how you can share in our success.

Skandia International is the divisional name for the international group of companies within the Skandia Group.

Calls may be monitored and recorded for training purposes and to avoid misunderstandings.

Skandia International is the registered business name of Royal Skandia Life Assurance Limited (Singapore Branch).

Royal Skandia Life Assurance Limited (Singapore Branch), Level 25, North Tower, One Raffles Quay, Singapore 048583. Phone: +65 6622 5406 Fax: +65 6622 5400 Registered in Singapore Number T08FC7158E. Authorised by the Monetary Authority of Singapore to conduct life assurance business in Singapore.

Member of the Life Insurance Association of Singapore. Member of the Singapore Finance Dispute Resolution Scheme.

Royal Skandia Life Assurance Limited – a member of the Skandia Group of companies.

Registered Office/Head Office: Skandia House, King Edward Road, Onchan, Isle of Man, IM99 1NU, British Isles.

INT11-006

ECO N O M I C & B U S I N E S S I N S I GHTS

THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE: HAVE CUSTOMERS BEEN FORGOTTEN?

by Deborah Blud, Chief of Staff, EA Consulting Group

I

n the current economic climate, keeping customers happy ought to be at the top of every company’s agenda. But many managers are simply too bogged down with cost cutting and reorganisation to focus on their customers’ basic needs. With budgets over-stretched and sales people under pressure to hit their targets, are we forgetting that Customer Experience needs to be at the heart of everything we do?

Customers are real people When customers feel valued by a company, they tend to encourage others to buy from that company too, creating much-needed revenue growth. Not surprisingly, they want to be treated as individuals, a factor which challenges large organisations worldwide. Consistency of delivery across all customer touchpoints is the key to building relationships which can withstand the draw of other companies offering new and exciting products or services. A CEO who places a dedicated senior level individual at the forefront of customer service is giving a strong message to both customers and staff, that exceptional levels of service are not only important to the firm, but fundamental to its strategic direction.

Concentrating on sales performance or cost reduction may seem the best policy when revenues are squeezed, but ignoring the customers’ needs can have catastrophic long-term consequences, such as losing loyal customers at an increasing rate.

Taking a retail bank as an example, we find on average that 40% of customer churn is due to poor service, yet 80% of this is entirely avoidable.

PAG E 3 6

Reputational Damage Today’s customers are both more sophisticated and more demanding too.

With greater exposure to multiple sales and service channels, their expectations are rising. Any company that fails to take customer satisfaction seriously is risking complaints of all kinds being made public via various social media. It is no longer the case of one unhappy customer telling twenty people of his or her bad experience, but through access to new technology, not least interest groups, blogs and social networking sites, a single customer can cause reputational damage on a global scale. While executives focus on marketing a range of products to the customer, few stop to ask what the customer actually experiences either on-line, on the phone or in person when they are trying to purchase or renew a product swiftly and at

a reasonable cost. Multiple channels, whilst offering tempting opportunities for the business, add further levels of complexity and internal competition which can simply switch your customer off buying a product altogether.

Service intrinsic to culture Ignoring poor or indifferent Customer Experience can seriously impact your business with new more agile competitors increasingly gaining market share.

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

being treated in a reasonable manner, that things are simple, and above all, that the person we are dealing with is an expert who is genuinely capable of understanding our needs.

It’s essential that organisations align themselves with the customers’ agenda and lay a customer lens over sales related activities. Customer service must become intrinsic to a company’s culture so that it is felt to be genuine, and keeping a customer happy throughout the sales and annual renewal process should be at the forefront of any organisation’s long-term strategy.

Since the global financial crisis, we have seen an interesting move away from a product centric model to a more client centric model with CEOs building performance management systems around Net Promoter Score. In the Banking sector, companies differ in the importance they attach to customer service and we have found some pronounced variances in performance.

Positive results come from strengthening CEO commitment to customer service and redefining Moments of Truth – the moment when an interaction occurs between a customer and a service provider. Negative results in a sales environment generally occur when the primary focus is on selling too many products to an individual, where sales teams no longer report directly to the Board and where service related variable pay is eliminated.

Champion the Customer So, how do you stay customer focused?

Intelligent process re-engineering which reduces the number of customer touchpoints or simplifies a process can itself lead to greater levels of customer contentment but this is not enough.

There must also be a positive drive towards improving standards and treating customers well. Ideally, the CEO will set the goals and communicate the organisation’s beliefs and values, to place greater value on the customer. This gives gravitas to Customer Experience within an organisation and has the additional advantage of driving internal cultural change. To be truly effective, the person leading the Customer Experience programme must have enough influence within the organisation to bring about real change. To allow Customer Experience to be driven from further down the organisation results in its importance being diminished. In line with this, each employee, not solely the front line, should have a Customer Experience target as part of their incentive scheme. The effect this has on employees is also worth noting, with decreased staff attrition and a greater PAG E 3 7

sense of achievement for those in sales related roles. The key here is to champion the customer, focus on enabling a superior Customer Experience, develop customer advocacy-centric policies and provide a holistic perspective across all channels, products and operations.

The five steps to success In summary, as part of the enhancement exercise, the following should be considered to improve the Customer Experience.

Make a client-centric culture a priority: The CEO or Senior Manager needs to demonstrate a real commitment to improving Customer Experience and to communicate this to staff at all levels.

Fix nuisance factors: Avoid creating detractors as a result of basic process errors, excess fees or clumsy sales techniques.

Transform critical end-to-end customer experiences: Create promoters by delivering consistently superior customer experiences across all channels.

Create an advocacy focused people model: Hire, train and incentivise empathetic service-oriented and sales-savvy front-line employees Create a culture of continuous improvement in advocacy: Track overall customer relationship quality and performance at key touchpoints and create dialogue from which to learn from and act on what our customers tell us.

The Challenge As members of the public we’ve all had frustrating and annoying experiences as customers, whether it be in paying our electricity bill, dealing with our bank account, or speaking to a telecoms provider.

As customers we want to feel that we are

The challenge for organisations is to enable each sales person to develop expertise and a sense of ownership so that no customer is left feeling dissatisfied with the service.

A company which rewards its sales people for promoting customer excellence, even in testing market conditions, is one which will ensure its long-term survival.

Loyalty schemes which offer new customers preferential treatment may alienate a company’s existing customers. Whereas offering incentives to loyal customers may improve customer advocacy and reduce attrition. Similarly, any move to cut costs which also reduces customer benefits will probably result in dissatisfaction and complaints. Understanding your customer and why they chose you in the first place is as important as acting to improve the bottom line. And it’s always worth remembering that the time, energy and cost involved in gaining any new customer is far greater than the cost of keeping one.

About ea Consulting Group Founded in 1998, ea Consulting Group has become one of the largest Change Management Consultancies in the UK, engaging over 700 consultants mainly in the Financial Services sector in the last year. In 2010 eacg entered the Asia-Pacific market with the establishment of an office in Sydney, and, with new offices in Melbourne, Singapore and Hong Kong, the company is establishing a strong reputation in the region. ea Consulting is passionate about improving Customer Experience – with Industry awards and a history of remarkable improvements in both customer satisfaction and business profitability, predominantly in the Financial Services and Telecommunications sectors.

For more information please contact Sarah Collins at her email sarah.collins@ eaconsultinggroup.com or visit www.eacg. sg

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

ECO N O M I C & B U S I N E S S I N S I GHTS

INHERITANCE TAX, DOMICILE AND LIFE ASSURANCE

by Martin Rimmer, Tax Technical Manager, The Fry Group

A

s anyone who has had any contact with the UK tax system knows, it is not exactly transparent or easy to understand.

Not only does the UK have arguably the most complex and highly evolved system of personal taxation in the world, it also has some of the highest rates and one of the widest reaches. At its worst, employment income can be taxed at 52%, capital gains at 28% and inheritance tax at 40%.

For most Britons living in Singapore, income tax and capital gains tax can be avoided by being non-resident and making sure that they stay that way for at least 5 complete UK tax years. But it is different with Inheritance Tax. To be caught by IHT on your world-wide estate at up to 40%, in most cases you just need to have your roots in the UK. In fact, it doesn’t matter how long you have lived outside of the UK, or even whether you never intend to live there again. If you are “domiciled” in the UK, your estate remains within the reach of our friends at HM Revenue & Customs, seemingly forever.

In the broadest terms, IHT is charged at 40% on a person’s estate, though up to the first £325,000 may be exempt. Typically, the transfer of assets between spouses who share the same domicile type are exempt – leaving the whole estate taxable in the hands of the survivor. However, if assets pass from the British domiciled person to a spouse who does not share their domicile, a charge to tax at 40% arises on their estate there and then, which can sometimes lead to cash-flow difficulties.

So, how can we deal with the problem of inheritance tax? The solutions are many and varied, and part of my job at The Fry Group is to diagnose a client’s position and to recommend which of the alternatives are the best for them. IHT planning is in no way a “one solution fits all” kind of a problem, not least because each of the many planning techniques has their own costs and benefits, and ultimately, everyone’s situation is a little bit different.

Yet, some solutions are better than others.

PAG E 3 8

Three spring to mind which are the closest we have to “silver bullets”: • Changing your domicile • Holding assets within a QNUPS • Taking Life Assurance Protection First of all, it is important to understand that you can change your domicile. You do have to meet certain strict conditions and detailed guidance is often needed.

However, if the case is strong enough, taking a domicile of choice in Singapore (for example) would have the effect of removing your non-UK estate from UK IHT at a stroke, effectively saving up to 40% of the value of those offshore assets in tax. Typically, I see clients save many hundreds of thousands of pounds in tax this way, and certainly it is worth at least asking yourself the question, where do I intend to live permanently? If you have a clear and settled view on that

already, it is worth looking at domicile as a long term solution.

Secondly, consider holding a proportion of your wealth in a Qualifying Non-UK Pension Scheme (QNUPS). A new set of regulations was enacted into law in February 2010 which protects the value of assets held within a QNUPS from inheritance tax, regardless of whether you are domiciled in the UK or not. Many of you will have heard of QNUPS before, and probably you have all seen adverts which promise 100% inheritance tax exemption.

As a rule, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is, and I would urge you never to trust anyone’s promise of full tax exemption.

Yet, despite the hype, there is something to be said for holding assets in a QNUPS. Whilst the legislation surrounding QNUPS

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

is clear (as it was with QROPS), the reality of how the Revenue will apply that in practice is less obvious. Typically in these situations, HMRC will apply a test of “reasonableness” – given a taxpayer’s wealth, is it reasonable that they have locked x% away in a QNUPS? Anecdotally, I have heard they would be willing to accept that it is reasonable for up to 30-40% of a person’s wealth to be invested in this way, and anything beyond that is perhaps a little suspect.

Thirdly, where other options are not viable, it is always possible to look at life assurance. Typically, a calculation is made of the inheritance tax liability arising if a person were to die, or fail to survive a gift by 7 years. A life assurance policy is written to pay out that sum upon death, which can be used to fund the actual inheritance tax liability which results. Of-course, it is a little bit hit and miss, but the principle is clear – arrange for funds from outside the estate to become available to pay the inheritance tax liability, so as to avoid the need to (say) sell a property which might be a main home or an investment portfolio which might

PAG E 3 9

be loss making at that point. Policies are typically written on a whole of life basis, or over a 7 year period if it is just a question of insuring to survive a major gift without IHT consequence.

how much you actually care about that number, getting up to speed with what the planning options are and deciding which of those options are best for your particular situation.

However, it is vitally important that the life assurance policy is written in trust. By this I mean that the proceeds must be paid out into trust and be available to the trustees to settle the inheritance tax bill. In this way, the proceeds of the policy fall outside of the taxpayer’s estate. If a life policy is not written in trust, when it matures the whole of the proceeds fall into the estate of the deceased and are, themselves, subject to inheritance tax at 40%. It is amazing how many policies are not written in this way. If you are concerned about your own policies, contact us and we can review them for you.

Ultimately, it only really matters that you have the right protection in place by the point at which you die. And there may be many years left to get the planning right.

Though, at the risk of stating the blindingly obvious … there, by the grace of God, go I.

Getting your inheritance tax planning right doesn’t have to be a terribly complicated or arduous process. Believe it or not, it can often be quite straightforward. It starts with working out with a tax professional what your exposure actually is, deciding

About the Author Martin Rimmer is Tax Technical Manager at The Fry Group

Expert tax and financial planning since 1898.

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

ECO N O M I C & B U S I N E S S I N S I GHTS

BOUNCING HOW EXPO: SME’S ARE THE UKBACK: AT SHANGHAI BUILDING ONAROUND THE PAST, SHAPING OUR FUTURE TURNING CITY ECONOMIES

by William Willems, Regional Vice President, Australia, New Zealand & South East Asia, Regus

I

n the modern global economy, cities play a disproportionate economic role. In 2007, 150 of the world’s largest metropolitan areas accounted for just fewer than 12% of global population, but around 46% of world GDP. It follows, then, that if you want to gauge the state of the global financial recovery, you follow the fortunes of those 150 metro areas. As well as showing income and employment trends, they reveal other patterns: shifts of economic power, and the shape of recovery.

A recent study by the Brookings Institution and the London School of Economics highlights intriguing patterns in how different cities have navigated recession and recovery. In 2009-2010, of the 30 metros that showed the strongest growth in employment and per capita Gross Value Added (GVA), 29 were outside the United States and Europe. It is probably not a surprise that metros in the emerging markets of Asia, Latin America and the Middle East are leading the way postglobal recession – indeed, some of them did not experience a recession. But the survey reveals some less predictable subnarratives if you delve more deeply.

Take the US. The only city to make the top 30 ranked metros in 2009-2010 was Austin, Texas. But outside the gilded realms of the top 30, several US metros that suffered severe economic declines before or during the recession of 2007-2009 have shown good income growth post-recession.

Detroit, for example, was ranked 147th in the survey pre-recession, and 146th during the recession years. But post-recession the Brookings and LSE researchers have it in 46th place.

The sad tale of Detroit’s economy and its automotive industry is well-known. Earlier this year, census data for the state of Michigan showed the city’s population had shrunk by 25% between 2000 and 2010.

In December 2010 the City of Detroit’s unemployment rate was 19.1%.

PAG E 4 0

So that is the familiar, bleak picture. But other snapshots show that Detroit may be experiencing a turnaround, fuelled by new opportunities in the automotive industry and a new layer of SMEs forming. For example, global workspace provider Regus operates four business centres in Detroit.

During 2010 and 2011, demand for space at these centres has escalated. All four centres are fully occupied, and Regus plans to open two more centres before the end of summer 2011.

Much of this demand comes from companies that have identified new opportunities in the automotive business – for instance, as car manufacturers replace car stereos with Internet radio and petrol engines with green technology. This new wave of players think Detroit has a future, and they are looking for flexible, quick and cost-effective ways to establish a presence there.

So what types of companies around the world are participating in the much hopedfor turnaround in cities like Detroit, or the growth of emerging markets such as Latin America or Asia? When you contrast Detroit, a struggling city in a tepid US economy with Singapore, a booming hub at the centre of South East Asia, you would expect a totally different set of needs and demands from businesses of all sizes.

However, this would not be the case. In fact companies in Singapore are seeking the same flexibility and cost-efficiency in how they work that Detroit businesses are demanding. According to a recent survey of

business leaders, despite the fact that 82% of companies in Singapore expected their company revenues to rise in the next 12 months, 74% expect to freeze or cut their workplace and premises budget.

So how can Singaporean companies grow their business while reducing their costs of operation? Many are turning to flexibility in how they work. Here in Singapore, Charles Cheong, the founder of Otho Technology, a banking consulting company which caters to emerging Asian economies, cited the sky-high office rental costs as a prime reason for choosing a Regus virtual office with a prime location address. “Not only did I save on office rental but I also met several other start-up companies which became my business associates. This is something money can’t buy – the networking opportunities with like-minded people in start-ups.”

His views were also echoed by Henrik Petersen, director of Innodan which specializes in generating revenue growth through innovative software technologies.

Originally working from a rented shophouse, Petersen moved his address to a Regus virtual office. “Having a very mobile business, where our employees either work from clients’ offices or from homes, it makes economic sense to do away with the office and save on rental, reception and cleaning.

We can finally focus on doing business,” said Petersen.

Today’s new breeds of entrepreneurial SMEs such as Otho Technology and Innodan are often strongly focused on international and

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

emerging markets. They do not want to drain resources seeking out office premises in each place they touch down in or explore; instead, they want access to a readymade, worldwide network of workspace that keeps pace with the global business shifts in their own industry. As a result the demand for flexible workspace is rising, and global providers are expanding their networks. Here in Singapore for example, we ourselves are rapidly expanding our network, and our latest opening in Asia Square will bring our footprint in the city to 6 centres. This represents 100 percent growth since early 2010.

These global business shifts underlying this growth in demand will just increase as the emergence of new markets challenge the advanced, high-income metros of the US and Europe – as both Detroit and Singapore well know. The Global Metro Monitor states: “If they fail to pursue new models for economic growth … they could ultimately fall even further behind in an ever-more integrated global economy.” Singapore, situated at the heart of Asia with a buoyant economy fueled by international trade, is

PAG E 4 1

well positioned to take advantage of this trend.

The report continues: “Estimates suggest that by 2020, more than a quarter of the global middle class will live in Brazil, India, and China alone, and most within their major metropolitan areas. If advanced metro economies in the US, Europe, and elsewhere hope to help satisfy that demand, they must build from their endemic market strengths, continuously improve their rates of innovation, advance their leadership in the emerging low-carbon economy, and most of all, embrace the potential of exports …”

It is referring to metropolitan areas, but it could equally well be describing companies. Exports, innovation, emerging sectors – the ability to compete postrecovery is all about agility, the ability to act quickly, unhindered by deadweight legacies – whether that comes in the form of a city’s outdated industrial and labour base or a large corporate organisation’s baggage of expensive real estate.

SMEs are leading recovery in cities like Detroit, and fueling the growth of emerging cities and markets such as Singapore, because they can deliver the combination of agility and innovation that the new global economy requires. They also deliver the optimism required to strengthen global recovery. A survey of over 17,000 businesses worldwide by Regus found that 40% of SMEs intended to hire new staff over the next six months, a higher proportion than larger businesses.

Whether cities like Detroit see a turnaround, whether those such as Singapore markets continue to top tables like the Global Metros Monitor, and whether the advanced economies of US and Europe continue to compete –SMEs will certainly play a crucial role in all their fortunes.

1 “Global Metro Monitor, The Path to Economic Recovery”, Brookings Institution and London School of Economics and Political Science, December 2010.

2 “Global Metro Monitor”.

3 “Can the Motor City come back?”, The Economist, Free Exchange, 24 March 2011.

4 “Small is Beautiful (but tough)”, Regus, November 2010.

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

CO R P O R AT E S O C I A L R E S P O NSIBILIT Y

WORKING WITH GEN X & Y ON CSR; THE DLS WAY

by Eugene Seah, Joint Managing Director, Davis Langdon & Seah Singapore Pte Ltd

T

ime has passed by so quickly since the days when the Personal Computer was as big as a television set, to now, where laptops are thinner than a slice of bread.

With the arrival of new media and the Internet, we have faster and more accurate access to information. Mid 90s was the age of “certifications” and the hype at that time was ISO 9000. Over the years, it built up to ISO 14000, OSH 18000 and so on. It became a full time job to maintain these certificates.

Then sustainability took centrestage and corporate social responsibility emerged, celebrating the amalgamation of corporate objectives with environmentally and socially friendly policies in action.

In the midst of all these paradigms came the “labelling” of different generations.

Generation X refers to people born between the 60s and late 70s or very early 80s. Generation Y will be the people born after that, usually called the millennia babies. Each generation brings different working styles, ideas and aspirations. Their objectives are also very different from the forefathers. For one, I belong to Generation X of which I believe my thinking is different from my father’s. However, sometimes, out of respect, to follow what his instructions are. There is a Chinese saying that the elders have eaten more salt than you have eaten rice. Wisdom reinforced with experience is a winning formula.

So, the question is, how do you work with different generations? A typical example is when if my father would ask me to jump, I would ask how high (and in which direction). In this day and age, if you want to ask someone to jump, he will ask why and “give me 5 reasons”. Therefore, it takes a different tack to work with the new generation of people coming in.

PAG E 4 2

minds from day one. As part of the induction program, employees are showed how, as a company, we reduce, reuse and recycle in the office. Communication with employees is key: hence notifications of strategies, reminders and best practices are showcased in our intranet, posters are put in and around the office as well as a Handbook that can be obtained through electronic means.

As consultants in the construction industry, I long for a “Google Office” where there is free play of design, ideas and process, all neatly orchestrated in the work environment. There are open areas for discussions, areas for relaxing the mind with Nintendo and gaming machines and even food dispensers. Can an industry like the construction industry move towards this openness in thinking and culture?

Although the office does offer Green Consultancy services to Developers, it helps by getting our house in order to embrace the green ethos first, and, it has to be in plain sight. Our latest move was to change the T12 tubes to T5 tubes, resulting in the office becoming brighter but with lesser power consumed. Such moves are deliberate to show visually the actions taken – walking the talk.

For one, Gen X and Y are looking for workplaces that appeal and are sustainable to them. Everything from ambience, views in the office, day lighting, music, the work space (e.g. open plan), technologies provided (laptops, IPhones) and even the welfare from the company, all contribute to staff retention as well as staff recruitment.

We can try to do what we can to manage productivity e.g. to block Facebook during working hours, but these new generation people can find a way to still enter Facebook through their IPhones. It is because of their dynamic, inquisitive and bold nature that drives them to look for out of the box solutions.

2) National Responsibility

Harnessing this energy is an important management skill and we constantly look at ways to provoke thinking and participation in company policies and CSR. Most importantly, management takes the lead in this as we have observed that the newer generations respect people who walk the talk and walk on the line with them. So here are some examples:

As part of national contribution, we get employees to participate in national events such as the Singapore Arm Forces (SAF) Rededication Ceremony in which operationally-ready National Service Men (NSMen) dress up in their uniforms and retake the oath to protect the nation.

Just last year, we were conferred the prestigious Minster for Defence Award.

This year, we organised a rededication ceremony and invited more than 60 of our industry partners to get their NSMen to take the oath with us. Every step of the way, we kept the employees informed and the younger and more enthusiastic ones joined the organising committee. This released and opened up their leadership and management abilities, not only on

1) Environmental Responsibility The concept of sustainability and green strategies are ingrained in our workforce’s

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

The Singapore Cricket Club is one of the premier Sports and Social clubs in Asia Pacific, proudly situated right in the heart of town with close to 160 years of heritage.

Our Members are well established captains of industry, community leaders and outstanding sportsmen/women.

Make the ultimate sporting and lifestyle statement by being part of the SCC family!

We are introducing a limited number of Special Term Membership (1 year term) to British Chamber of Commerce Members in Singapore.

To enjoy the SGD $1,000 savings, simply present your membership card upon application.

Become our Special Term Member and start enjoying all the premium benefits today!

For further enquiries and application details, please call Snow at 6338 9271 ext. 221 or email snow@scc.org.sg .

Singapore Cricket Club | Connaught Drive Singapore 179681 Tel: +65 6338 9271 Fax: +65 6337 0119

For more information on the Club, please visit our website at www.scc.org.sg

COR P O R AT E S O C I A L R E S P O NSIBILIT Y

Construction Project matters, but on other humanity aspects as well.

3) Health Responsibility The sense of a healthy body and mind is important, whether at work or at play. Gen X & Y are not going to be tied down to their desks and we have always believed that if the mind is relaxed through exercises, this will spark off creativity and innovation, coupled with a healthy body. Therefore, games such as dragon boating, jogging, badminton, bowling, body sculpturing and other sports are encouraged and paid for, either fully or partially, by the office. This year saw our dragon boat team winning 2nd place in the Real Estate Developer’s Association Dragon Boat race at the Marina Barrage. Directors and employees alike participate in these sports, and you would be surprised by the reports, relationships and issues that can be discussed, addressed and resolved at these sessions, without going through the “formal” Human Resource procedure.

deadlines, we do try to instil fun (but not games) to the work environment and even education. For example, we have created musical raps to let trainees know about the fairness of contracts. Once learning is fun, trainees will embrace knowledge faster and this makes it easier to remember. In addition, as part of a recreational activity, we have engaged a magician to come and teach employees magic tricks using everyday objects and tools that are related to our trade like a calculator. Making a calculator disappear at a Site Meeting is “cool” for the younger folks. Most importantly, it induces fun and laughter in what they do.

5) Social Responsibility

4) Have-Fun Responsibility The need to have fun is important in everything we do and this is well encapsulated in the FISH ethos, that is, To have fun. As leads in the firm, apart from the stressful environment and impossible PAG E 4 4

One of the most important responsibilities would be social responsibility. Again, the younger generation gets involved in this by organising projects that involve the community at large or specific fund raises such as the fund raising for the Children’s Society and the St Andrew’s Autism Centre.

Last year saw some of us even singing in Orchard Road at the Ngee Ann City concourse (and without training or practice – so you can imagine the outcome). It is from the participation of employees in such events that we can see their potential in management and leadership through their ability to pre-empt and manage issues as they arise. These employees are further

observed at work and assured on their potential as leaders in the firm, hence it benefits everyone.

Conclusion CSR in the 21st century is not only a top down approach. It is a bottom up and top down approach, involving everyone at every level. Of course we have our family days, staff night celebrations (we had a back-to-school theme last year) and various welfare and community service clubs. But what we are discussing here are the extra things, the “oomph” factor that creates the gel to work with Gen X & Y at work and at play. The CSR ethos is ingrained in DLS culture and our people, and the best encouraging push is that management takes the lead in participation but lets Gen X & Y take the lead, growing and retaining their talents.

About the Author Eugene Seah Joint Managing Director Davis Langdon & Seah Singapore Pte Ltd About the Company The firm provides Project Management, Quantity Surveying Services as well as Value Added Services such as Value Risk Management, Sustainable Economic, Consultancy and Research.

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

CO R P O R AT E S O C I A L R E S P O NSIBILIT Y

TOWARDS GREEN GROWTH

by Yoona Jo, Climate Change Director, the British High Commission

O

ne of the main objectives of the British Government’s work on climate change is to encourage the transition to a “low carbon economy” that is less reliant on fossil fuels. This includes working with international organisations that are promoting this concept. A major development occurred in May 2011, when the OECD released a ground breaking report, “Towards Green Growth”. This report aims to overcome perceptions that there is a fundamental conflict between economic growth and sustainability. The UK was very active in the preparation of the report and its adoption by the OECD membership.

The OECD defines green growth as fostering economic growth and development while ensuring that natural assets continue to provide the resources and environmental services on which our well-being relies.

The rationale behind the OECD work is that ‘business as usual’ - i.e. carrying on with current patterns of economic development and energy consumption - would not only be unwise but ultimately unsustainable, as it would involve risks leading to human costs, and eventually constraints on economic growth and development. It would result in increased water scarcity, resource bottlenecks, air and water

PAG E 4 6

pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss that would be irreversible; thus the need for strategies to achieve greener growth.

The OECD acknowledges that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ prescription for green growth. Greening the growth path of an economy depends on local policy and institutional settings, the level of development, resource endowments and the particular environmental pressure points. Advanced, emerging and developing countries will therefore face different challenges and opportunities. But even at the same level of development, countries with differing economic and political circumstances do not need the same green growth strategy.

Though this report is only a first step that requires further economic analysis, sector by sector, and an implementation strategy, it is an interesting first attempt by a major economics institution to grapple with the key policy challenge and prescriptions in this area.

One of the main recommendations of this report is that governments should go beyond traditional green policies and look for a mix of policy instruments. In

that respect it recommends approaches such as the “polluter-pays” principle and strict public control over the use of scarce resources, complemented by incentives, notably tax incentives, that promote innovation and green technologies.

The report argues that green growth addresses economic and environmental challenges through increasing productivity and innovation, spurred by government policies and frameworks. New markets will emerge in green technologies, goods and services, creating potential for new job opportunities. Green growth can also reduce shocks to growth through the reduction in resource bottlenecks and imbalances.

A green growth strategy recognizes that focusing on GDP as a measure of economic progress overlooks the contribution of natural assets to wealth, health and wellbeing. It therefore targets a range of measures of progress that encompass the quality and composition of growth, and how this can affect people’s wealth and welfare. In this and many other respects, green growth is an essential component of sustainable development.

Implementing the green growth strategy

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

advocated by the OECD will involve drawing on fiscal and regulatory settings and policy to maximize the efficient use of resources.

This will include properly valued natural capital, as well as innovation policies that place a premium on incentives.

The OECD report identifies important complementarities between green growth and poverty reduction. For example, the importance of natural assets in low-income countries ensures that green growth policies can reduce vulnerability to environmental risks and increase the livelihood security of the poor. However, the OECD admits that more evidence on green growth needs to be gathered in developing countries.

The report argues that green growth strategies should encourage greener behaviour by firms and consumers, facilitate the smooth and fair reallocation of jobs, allocate capital and technology towards greener activities, and provide adequate incentives and support to green innovation.

At the moment, misguided government policies, market constraints and distortions all lead to or arise from market failures: which mean there is often a gap between private returns from economic activity and the overall benefits that accrue to society.

Greening growth will also require policies to establish new infrastructure networks PAG E 4 7

that are suitable for next generation technologies, especially in areas such as energy, water, transportation and communication networks. The report argues that green infrastructure investments can help avoid the costly lockin of inefficient patterns of growth. They can lift economic growth and bring social and health benefits. The OECD also believes that in developing economies, there will be opportunities for leap-frogging to new forms of infrastructure development.

However leveraging public and private financing will be necessary given the large-scale investments required in most countries.

The OECD finds that, in adopting a green economy, the scale of adjustment in the labour market should not be overstated significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are possible with only limited effects on the pace of employment growth.

highlights the policy options that will help countries best adapt to climate change. We also provided capacity building in Green Growth economic policies for Government officials from all Southeast Asian Countries, including Singapore. Recently, we have commissioned and publicized a new report on the potential for energy efficiency investments in Southeast Asia. The report

by ReEX Capital Asia estimates that that the regional energy efficiency market size is US$6.7bn, and that the potential for annual savings from energy efficiency measures is US$1.4bn - with an annual payback period of only 3.5 years. We will soon complete the 4 degree map of climate impacts in Southeast Asia with the Met Office.

The OECD report can be accessed at http:// www.oecd.org.

The UK will be working with the OECD and other partners to generate more evidence and test different approaches to green growth as we move closer to the adoption of a low carbon economy.

For example, in 2009 we worked with the Asian Development Bank to publicise their report on the economics of climate change in Southeast Asia. The report assesses the overall vulnerability of the region, and

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

About the Author Yoona Jo is Climate Change Director at the British High Commission.

OU T O F T H E B OX

LEADERSHIP

by Lyndon Jones, Founder Chairman, Association of Business Executives and Dr Penny Hood, Director of International Partnership, Business School of Anglia Ruskin University, UK

L

eaders and managers have long had to cope with change. This may be evidenced from a study of the top 100 major companies on any stock market in, say, 1900 and 2000. In the case of the UK for example, only a handful of the top 100 companies in 1900 were still there in 2000.

Whilst in the US in the 1920s when the Standards & Poor Index was compiled, a listed company had a life expectancy of more than 65 years. Today the annual turnover of S&P firms is under 10 years.

Most organisations are built to support enduring values, stable strategies and bureaucratic structures, not to change.

So, to quote Schumpeter, we need creative destruction to survive and excel; organisations must constantly evolve, innovate, change, destroy and create. This requires leadership and management of the highest calibre. Hence, to survive, companies need leaders and managers who can effectively manage change. This is the most important quality required in leaders.

Leaders must have the ability to manage change and organisation transformation.

For transformational competence, you need a person:

• who is aware of developments relevant to the organisation and its continuing success • who, figuratively speaking, can stand at the window and look at the future through a telescope • respond and give a sense of direction whilst generating alternative scenarios Things critical to survival have got to be identified and inappropriate past practices have to be abandoned. The future belongs to the learners, not the knowers.

Surviving and thriving is more difficult today for we have to face a wall of uncertainty. For example, according to a report published by the World Economic Forum, the biggest risks confronting the global economy are climate change; an oil PAG E 4 8

price hike; a pandemic; and terrorism.

A second important factor which is a challenge to management is the shift from a capitalist society to a knowledge society.

Traditionally, the sources of wealth were labour, land, capital and entrepreneurship.

Conventional management focused on the maximisation of profit. In today’s society capital has lost its scarcity value – the world is awash in a sea of global liquidity – and knowledge and entrepreneurship has emerged as the scarce productive factors.

But the brain rich companies cannot be managed in the old asset-orientated style.

Today, the focus has moved from optimising capital to optimising people. Arising from this, we need human asset accounting.

In 1971 in a UK journal, The Accountant, in an article “What is Profit”, one of the authors wrote: “There have been several reasons why investments in human resources have been treated as ‘expenses’ rather than as ‘assets’ – hence their omission from the balance sheet.

For example, investments in people have seemed more tenuous than investments in physical assets. The latter cannot walk out on you. Then there has been the problem of distinguishing between the future benefits of the outlays made for recruiting, hiring and training, and the portion consumed currently. Probably, though, it has been the cultural rejection of the notion that people are ‘assets’ in things of value owned which has caused accountants to avoid valuing human beings in terms of their potential earning capacity.”

In those days, capital was viewed as the scarce resource. In today’s post-industrial economy with capital no longer a scarce resource, the market value of most companies depends less on tangible resources than on intangible ones, particularly human resources. For example, in a service based economy, where employee costs can account for almost half of corporate expenses, knowledge is the key differentiator. Similarly, knowledge is also increasingly important in high-

value-added manufacturing, such pharmaceuticals and technology.

as

Allied with the need for effective human resource management, there is also the issue of the environment. In turn, this must again necessitate posing the question “what is profit?” Possibly this may be a subject for a future article.

About the Authors Dr Penelope Hood Principal Lecturer Lord Ashcroft International Business School Anglia Ruskin University Dr Penny Hood is Director of International Partnership in the Business School of Anglia Ruskin University, UK. Her wide experience in education, commerce and the public sector has also included work in many African and Asian countries. She is visiting Professor at the Postgraduate Institute of Management, Sri Lanka.

Lyndon Jones Founder Chairman The Association of Business Executives Mr Lyndon Jones is the Founder of UK based Association of Business Executives and author of a number of books on economics and management and several hundred published articles in the UK and elsewhere.

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

Door to door moving with Allied Pickfords Allied Pickfords is one of the largest and most respected providers of moving services in the world, handling over 50,000 international moves every year.

We believe that nothing reduces stress more than trust, and each year thousands of families trust Allied Pickfords to move them. With over 600 offices in more than 40 countries, we’re the specialists in international moving and have the ability to relocate you anywhere anytime. Move with Allied to Allied worldwide.

Call us now on +65 6862 4700 www.alliedpickfords.com.sg

HIG H CO M M I S S I O N N E W S

BRITISH HIGH COMMISSION NEWS OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2011

I

am always delighted to have the chance to address the members of the British Chamber through the pages of the Orient.

It’s a great opportunity to set out what’s on our agenda here at the High Commission and to invite your views. In the six months I have been here I have been keen to encourage dialogue between business and government, at all levels, in order to inform policy making in London and to make sure that what we are doing is helpful not harmful to your efforts.

With that in mind I wanted to focus on two issues – prosperity diplomacy and public diplomacy.

Prosperity diplomacy, in my definition, is making sure that all of the government’s resources overseas are coordinated and coherently deployed in support of the Government’s prosperity agenda. Here in Singapore that means two priorities in particular: joining up the “prosperity” teams in the High Commission, and then joining that effort up with our colleagues in South East Asia, India and China, and also Australasia.

On the internal “wiring”, much has been done already with enhanced joint working between the UK Trade and Investment, science and innovation, climate change and economic teams. Together they have launched a number of projects drawing on joint prosperity and commercial diplomacy funds; and worked on events and trade missions here in Singapore.

Regional coordination is the next challenge. As part of the FCO’s “network

shift”, resources are being moved into the growth markets of Latin America, China, India and SE Asia. Much of these are earmarked for “prosperity” work, and we must make sure they are deployed in a manner that is regionally coherent to maximise the impact. At the end of the day, our role is to support business. As many of you are already regionally structured, I see this as a question not of whether we should follow suit, but of why haven’t we done so already and how quickly can we catch up? Again, we’re not starting from scratch – science and innovation, climate change and economic teams already cover SE Asia, but we need to expand this approach to other prosperity policy issues, and expand our geographical scope to include the rest of Asia.

Public diplomacy is the second issue that I want to address. After six months here, I am more convinced than ever that whilst being British in Singapore is a huge advantage, it is not one that we are necessarily making the most of. In part, the fact that we are here in such numbers, and so much of what is here was left behind by us means that we don’t stick out. So, somewhat ironically, it makes it more difficult for us to have a distinctive presence. On the other hand, in many cases we benefit from the shared heritage and the familiarity.

I certainly don’t want to lose that, nor do I want to start acting differently just to get noticed. But I would like to think about how we can leverage our presence here more effectively for us all. That conversation should involve all of the various British groups here, not just the High Commission and the Chamber, but also the British Council, British Club, British Association and Visit Britain. I would contend that all of us have a common objective: to promote a vision of a Britain that is open, innovative, modern and dynamic, and then use that vision to pursue our particular agendas.

At a practical level, we should make sure that, between us, we are reaching out to as wide a British network as possible. There are 32,000 British nationals here and over

700 companies. We all have an interest in making sure as many of them as possible are aware of what we are doing.

As part of that, we recently circulated our events calendar amongst the groups I mentioned above. I hope that we can utilise each others’ networks to promote attendance at these events. At the High Commission, we have recently launched a Facebook page to publicise our activity, as well as key messages from London and events taking place across the FCO network.

Please have a look at it, and let us know if you think there’s more we should be telling you. And do, of course, “like” the page if you are on Facebook yourself and want to keep track of us.

Finally, on public diplomacy, just a quick reference to two huge events taking place next year – the Diamond Jubilee in June, and the Olympic and Paralympic Games in July/August. We have already held events linked to the Games as part of a programme running up to them. From the start of next year we will do the same for the Diamond Jubilee. If you have ideas about how we can commemorate either do let us know. All in all, 2012 promises to be an extraordinary year for Britain!

http://www.facebook.com/UKinSG

ANTONY PHILLIPSON BRITISH HIGH COMMISSIONER

www.ukinsingapore.fco.gov.uk • www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk PAG E 5 0

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

Your personal, spacious haven onboard We understand that true luxury means having the freedom to stretch out and unwind in privacy. So when you travel in First you can sink into a comfortable seat that’s 60% wider at the shoulder and converts into a fully flat bed for a great night’s sleep.

Discover more at ba.com/first

Our new First is progressively being rolled out and is available on selected international flights from Singapore to London and Sydney.

CH A M B E R N E W S

October ’11 Dear Members, We are fast moving towards the end of a busy, and as it turns out, rather bumpy year 2011!

Recent developments on the economic front cause heavy disruptions in the markets, particularly the Euro zone is in deep trouble. So far Asia fared well with no disruption to growth rates and Singapore is buzzing as ever.

The Chamber is in the process of preparing for the 2nd Economic Briefing 2011 with Chamber Board Member and Economic Spokesperson Roman Scott. Roman will share his research and interpretation of recent and upcoming developments on the 10th of November and we certainly hope that his initial assessment that “this is all a red herring” will turn out to be true.

On the 26th of September we welcomed one of the most successful British businessmen, Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP to a Chamber Leaders in Business Lunch. He spoke, quite topical, about “Is that a light at the end of the tunnel or an oncoming train?” His view is we are not going to see a double dip in global growth rates and there is no global recession looming. However the main contributors to global growth are going to be the BRICS and other strong emerging markets in Asia and Latin America, whereas Western Europe and the US are facing slow growth in the next ten years. A short answer to the question in the title of his speech is “it depends where you are”. Being in Singapore means there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel!

We are going to keep you abreast with regular updates providing a packed events programme during Q4 offering inspiring speakers, practical informative sessions and networking opportunities. Please log on to www.britcham.org to check details and book online. I would like to draw your attention to three sessions in particular: • Dr Vince Cable MP and Minster Lim Hng Khiang are going to sign a Singapore – UK Business Partnership on the 31st of October at a Chamber Leaders in Business lunch • Our YBC Business Group is hosted by HE Antony Phillipson at Eden Hall on the 23rd of November. Antony is going to share insights of his career development.

• A pre-Singapore Budget 2012 Breakfast Club on the 6th of December, facilitated by KMPG, will allow members to input and discuss their expectations for a continuously open and competitive environment in Singapore. We are going to communicate a preparation brief sufficiently before the session.

With a growing membership and strong support from all members, the Chamber is going from strength to strength.

An active and involved Board, dynamic and effective Committees, multiple Business Groups and an 8 staff strong Management Team we out grew our current office space. I am delighted to inform you that the Board approved moving to a larger space given the current tenancy agreement expires mid December. We managed to agree a very competitive rent with the landlord in Cecil Court and secured a bare space on the 13th floor in the same building which we can outfit according to requirements. Facilities will include a hot desk and a small meeting room for member’s use, a bigger board room with standard built-in technical facilities to host member briefings and other sessions in-house as well as a break out area for members to gather and meet over a coffee. The move is planned for End November and I shall keep you posted with updates nearer to the date.

I wish you a successful journey towards the end of the year and hope to see you at one of the upcoming events.

Brigitte Holtschneider Executive Director British Chamber of Commerce www.britcham.org.sg

PAG E 5 2

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

CH A M B E R N E W S

2011 BRITCHAM EVENTS ry Mark Your Dia

BritCham Breakfast Club (Nov – Dec 2011) Working in a Multi-Cultural Team Wednesday 9th November 2011 The End of Progress: how modern economics has failed us Tuesday 15th November 2011 The Developing World: Embracing an explosion of creativity Thursday 24th November 2011 Singapore Pre-Budget Briefing Tuesday 6th December 2011

Business Tour / Networking YBC Mentor Series with HE Antony Phillipson, British High Commissioner Wednesday 23rd November 2011 Business Tour at GSK Biologicals Singapore Plant Monday 28th November 2011

Lunches Leaders in Business Lunch with Vince Cable, UK Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skill Monday 31st October 2011 ICT Business Group Working Lunch - What Happens If The Line Goes Dead?

Friday 25th November 2011

BritCham Economic Briefing with Roman Scott British Chamber of Commerce, Singapore Thursday 10th November 2011

BritCham Ball 2011 British Chamber of Commerce, Singapore Friday 18th November 2011

PAG E 5 4

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

BRITISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE MEMBERS OFFERS AVIS Car Rental & Leasing Receive up to 20% discount off standard rates on your car rental booking. Visit http://www.avis. com.sg/bccs/ British Airways Book British Airways flights and SAVE 10% on airfares. Book now: http://www.britishairways. com/travel/britcham/public/en_sg?redirect=RD_ britcham British Club 15% Discount (=S$600) for 1 year membership worth S$4000 for BritCham members who are not members of the British Club. Contact membership@britishclub.org.sg Bupa Enjoy special rates for Bupa Lifeline or Worldwide Health Options covers. Contact +65 6634 5888, +65 9754 4770 or email liz@bricon.com.sg Citygolf Save S$500 off membership fee at Citygolf (U.P. S$1,500). First 50 BritCham members only. Call +65 6536 4846.

Courts 5% off electricals and 10% off furniture. Present membership card upon payment.

Damai Spa – Grand Hyatt Singapore Grand Hyatt, Damai membership for $280 (plus GST) per month with no annual fee (one year contract. U.P. $2000).

Expat Insurance 10% off selected Medical Insurance for individuals and companies, free insurance review, executive consultation & travel kit offer from International Medical Clinic. Contact info@expatinsurance.com. sg or call +65 6401 9201.

Expat Living FREE THREE month subscription to Expat Living magazine (U.P. $60 for 12 monthly issues). Visit http://www.expatliving.sg/3monthsfree/britcham to subscribe now, or call +65 6259 0058 or email circulation@expatliving.sg to subscribe for a longer period or to sign up a friend.

Lightfoot Travel Complimentary return limousine airport transfers with Lightfoot Travel (U.P. $140). T&C apply. Contact info@lightfoottravel.com or call +65 6438 4091. Valid till 31 Dec 2011.

MC Corporate Services 15% discount off regular rates for services including company formation, corporate secretarial, business consultancy/accounting/tax advisory needs. Contact +65 6222 8880 or email contact@mccorporate.com.sg Regus 30% off Regus Businessworld card. Visit http://www. regus.com.sg/Products--Services/Businessworld/ or call 1800 622 1565 Rubicon Reserve Wines Buy 12 bottles of Durvillea Sauvignon Blanc 2008, Marlborough NZ and get 6 free (total 18 bottles for the price of 12). Free delivery included. Order online at http://www.rubiconreservewines.com/britcham or call +65 6837 8012 and Quote “Britcham Wine Club Special” Spa Botanica at The Sentosa Resort & Spa Book any 90-min body massage and receive a free 30-min body scrub worth S$100. Quote “BritCham offer” when making reservations. Valid till 30 Nov 2011. Call +65 6371 1288 / +65 6371 1318 or email reservations@spabotanica.com Singapore Cricket Club Special Term Membership (1 year term) at S$2,500 (U.P. S$3,500). Contact snow@scc.org.sg SMU 15% discount off Shipping Business Fundamentals course. Email msantos@smu.edu.sg Vanda Boxing Club Free trial session for Boxing training and Muay Thai.

Join for 6 months and receive 1 month free. Join for 1 year and receive a free pair of gloves and wraps worth $100 upon joining. Waiver of S$250 joining fee.

Contact Sarah Livingston at sarah@vandasportsgroup. com or call +65 63052288

Harry’s Bar 15% discount rate for Chamber members when you present your membership card.

For more information visit our Members Offers page on our website at www.britcham.org.sg under Membership -> Members Offers

PAG E 5 5

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

MEM B E R S - S T E R L I N G N E W S

NEW LOOK FOR ANGLOINFO WEBSITE

A

ngloINFO will be having a new look to the site in October. We are changing the technology which we use at all levels in order to achieve this and, in particular, to make the site faster and more robust. Web

pages will be loaded more efficiently from the server and cached more aggressively - this will result in a greatly improved user experience. AngloINFO, the global expat network with over two million regular users

across 56 sites in 22 countries, is continuing its expansion into Asia with new national and regional sites planned to launch during 2011/2. singapore.angloinfo.com

BT-DHL GLOBAL INNOVATION PARTNERSHIP

B

T, one of the world’s leading providers of communications solutions and services, signed a Global Innovation Partnership agreement with Deutsche Post DHL, the world’s leading mail and logistics group. Under the terms of the agreement, BT will support the DHL Solutions &

Innovations (DSI) unit, which is responsible for all the Group’s research projects and innovations, to foster innovations and develop new logistic service offerings and technical solutions.

T he two partners have identified a number

of areas for joint research and development, including RFID and security solutions for the supply chain and green and sustainable logistics. As part of the program, BT will have access to the DHL Innovation Center to develop, test and showcase new solutions. www.bt.com

KNIGHTHOOD FOR THE COGNITA CHAIRMAN

C

hris Woodhead, Chairman of Cognita, has been knighted on the Queen’s birthday in June 2011. Sir Christopher, as he is now known, was the U.K. chief inspector of schools from 1994 until 2000. He received the honour for his long service in education.

Sir Christopher was one of the founders of the Cognita school network, which was formed with a vision of building a family of uniquely individual schools around the

world with a focus on teaching excellence to ensure that each school retained an outstanding local reputation.

Today, Cognita includes 52 schools across the UK, Europe and Southeast Asia. The family of school employs in total some 3,000 teaching and support staff, in the care and education of over 15,000 pupils. In Asia Pacific, Cognita has schools in Singapore, Vietnam, and Thailand. www.cognitaschools.co.uk

DHL AND BLUE DART STEER INDIA’S LOGISTICS IN A NEW DIRECTION WITH THE LAUNCH OF SMART TRUCK

B

engaluru, India, August 10, 2011: DHL, the world’s leading logistics company, and Blue Dart, part of the DHL Group, are piloting Smart Truck technology in Bengaluru, India. Created by DHL Solutions & Innovations (DSI), the DHL Smart Truck is an “intelligent” pick-up and delivery vehicle

PAG E 5 6

that combines a number of innovative technologies including a route planner.

Launched in Germany in 2010, DHL Smart Truck reduced number of miles traveled by 15 per cent and length of average route by 8 per cent.

Piloted by Blue Dart in India, the Smart Truck technology is designed to provide solutions to urban logistic challenges such as traffic restrictions, density and clogging, while ensuring environmental protection and fulfilling customer need for on-time delivery. www.dhl.com

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

NEW OFFICE IN MARINA BAY

“E

managing agents to all sit under one roof, making it easier to brokers to conduct business and replicate the market structure which is so successful in London.

leven years ago Lloyd’s established itself in Singapore with a handful of employees and a small amount of business.

Now the office includes over 250 staff and business has grown over 100%.

Lloyd’s is now positioned to be able to continue expanding its business and taking on Asia’s risks.” www.lloyds.com

In November, the market will be moving to a new office in Marina Bay to take advantage of its central business location and vast space. The move will allow Lloyd’s

PRUDENTIAL CARNIVAL P rudential Singapore celebrates 80 years in Singapore by thanking Singaporeans for

their support through activities that give back to the community. The Prudential Carnival that happened in July at Changi Exhibition Centre saw a 5000-strong crowd made up of staff, agency force members and friends and family who formed a heart with red Prudential umbrellas All the proceeds from ticket sales for the carnival are being donated to support National Cancer Centre Singapore’s cancer research efforts. A sum of $100,000 each has also been donated to Nanyang Technological University (NTU)

and Singapore Management University (SMU) for scholarships for students.

In September, the Prudential Golf Charity was held at Tanah Merah Country Club to raise money for National Cancer Centre Singapore’s cancer research efforts too. On top of that, Prudential Singapore’s 80th year will close with the company’s participation in the Boys’ Brigade Share-A-Gift charity event which brings aid and cheer to the less fortunate. www.prudential.com.sg

CHEF DE CUISINE AT THE CLIFF TO REPRESENT SINGAPORE AT BOCUSE D’OR ASIA 2012

T

he Sentosa Resort & Spa is proud to announce that Chef de Cuisine at The Cliff, Yew Eng Tong has been chosen to represent Singapore at Bocuse d’Or (Asia), which will be held in Shanghai in June 2012.

Chef Yew’s victory came after he beat four other chefs at the Singapore pre-selection

round held on Saturday, 20 August 2011.

Upon invitation to take part in the preselection round by Chef Christophe Megal, the CEO of At-Sunrice GlobalChef Academy three months ago, Chef Yew readily agreed.

He said, “I was curious to find out where I stood amongst the competition. I love

the adrenaline rush from adapting to the pressures of any competition and conquering it. Competing always spurs me on to the next level.” www.thesentosa.com

REGIONAL TRAINING CENTRE OPENS

R

olls-Royce, the global power systems company, announced in July the opening of its Regional Training Centre (RTC) in Singapore. The RTC is the first section of the SGD700m Rolls-Royce Seletar Campus to be opened. The Campus will officially open in the first quarter of 2012.

In addition to the RTC, the Seletar Campus PAG E 5 7

will house a Trent aero e n g i n e assembly and test facility, a wide chord fan blade (WCFB) manufacturing facility, as well as an Advanced Technology Centre (ATC), a key part of Rolls-Royce’s global network for

technology research. The Seletar Campus demonstrates Rolls-Royce’s commitment to develop its presence and capability, and bringing the Group closer to its customers in Asia. Approximately 40% of the Group’s £8.7bn in of orders secured during the first half of 2011 was from customers in Asia.

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

BRI TC H A M E V E N TS BREAKFAST CLUB: ADVANCED NEGOTIATIONS SKILLS; WHAT ULTIMATELY SEPARATES SKILLED NEGOTIATORS FROM AVERAGE NEGOTIATORS

The BritCham Breakfast Club Series is proudly sponsored by:

by Greg Moore - Managing Partner, Huthwaite Asia Pacific Tuesday, 26 July 2011, Shangri-La Hotel Singapore

BREAKFAST CLUB: A EUROPEAN LAW OF CONTRACT: THREAT, OPPORTUNITY OR STORM IN A TEA-CUP

by Angharad Parry – Barrister, 20 Essex St Wednesday, 3 August 2011, Pan Pacific Hotel

PAG E 5 8

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

BREAKFAST CLUB: MASTERING INTERCULTURAL INTELLIGENCE IN SINGAPORE

by Jenny Castelino – Director, Intercultural Sales and Account Development, Cartus; and Ng Mui Hwa – Intercultural Management Training Consultant Wednesday, 17 August 2011, Pan Pacific Hotel

BREAKFAST CLUB: UK RESIDENCY – HOW THE TAXMAN IS MOVING THE GOALPOSTS

by Martin Rimmer - International Tax Manager, The Fry Group Wednesday, 28 September 2011, Pan Pacific Hotel

PAG E 5 9

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

BRI TC H A M E V E N TS

W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

LEADERS IN BUSINESS LUNCH WITH HE ANTONY PHILLIPSON

The BritCham Leaders in Business Lunch is proudly sponsored by:

by HE Antony Phillipson, British High Commissioner Friday, 2 September 2011, Pan Pacific Hotel

LEADERS IN BUSINESS LUNCH WITH SIR MARTIN SORRELL - IS THAT A LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL, OR AN ONCOMING TRAIN?

by Sir Martin Sorrell - Chief Executive of WPP Friday, 26 September 2011, Raffles Hotel

PAG E 6 1

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

BRI TC H A M E V E N TS

You’re thinking, I want to fast track my journey to the cloud.

We’re doing...

By accelerating your adoption of virtualisation, your organisation can realise even greater cost savings, more streamlined business processes and a faster time-to-market. What’s more, virtualisation plays a fundamental part in paving the way for your journey to cloud computing.

At Dimension Data, our focus is on ensuring that your business reaps the benefits of a well-planned, deployed and managed virtualised infrastructure and that you get a solution that is tailor made for your individual needs. So, if the cloud is your destination of choice, you can count on Dimension Data to get you there quicker.

W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

YBC NETWORKING - TWILIGHT SAIL AND MENTORING SESSION Thursday, 28 July 2011, Marina at Keppel Bay

YBC MENTOR SERIES WITH IAN MULLANE, CEO VANDA SPORTS GROUP - MAKING YOUR PASSIONS YOUR CAREER; IAN’S STORY FROM CORPORATE TO SPORTS

by Ian Mullane, CEO Vanda Sports Group Friday, 9 September 2011, Jalan Besar Stadium

PAG E 6 3

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

BRI TC H A M E V E N TS BUSINESS NETWORKING: LEADERSHIP IN TURBULENT TIMES: WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?

by Scott Fritzen - Associate Professor & Stavros Yiannouka Executive Vice-Dean (Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy) Friday, 16 September 2011, NUS Bukit Timah Campus

BRITCHAM/UKTI BRIEFING - DOING BUSINESS IN ASIA: OPPORTUNITIES FOR UK COMPANIES IN INDIA

This BritCham/UKTI Briefing is proudly sponsored by

by Ian Gibbons - Deputy Director, UK Trade & Investment India Thursday, 22 September 2011, Mandarin Orchard Hotel

PAG E 6 4

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

F1 NETWORKING

by British Chamber of Commerce Thursday, 22 September 2011, Singapore Cricket Club

ENTREPRENEUR AND SMALL BUSINESS GROUP NETWORKING

By BritCham Entrepreneur and Small Business Group Thursday, 4 August 2011, The Tanglin Club

PAG E 6 5

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

MEM B E R S - CO R P O R AT E N E WS

DIAMOND FINISH FOR MARINA BAY SANDS

A

rup, the global design, engineering and business consultancy, celebrated this month, the official opening of the diamond-looking Crystal Pavilions at Marina Bay Sands®. The striking 6,000 sq m pavilions are located in the waters of Marina Bay on both ends of the waterfront boardwalk. They were designed by internationally-renowned architect Moshe

© Darren Soh

Safdie, as part of his overall design of Marina Bay Sands®, and made possible by Arup’s engineers and designers.

The pavilions are home to luxury brands Louis Vuitton, mega dance club Avalon and celebrity night club, Pangaea. www.arup.com

SINGAPORE’S DIGITAL JOB MARKET HEATS UP’

A

mbition, the leading global boutique recruitment business specialising in the Banking, Finance, Sales & Marketing and Technology sectors, recently published figures showing that Singapore’s digital job

market is heating up. Ambition has seen a 114% increase in placements compared with 2010. “Singapore’s goal is to be the region’s No. 1 technology hub and we have seen significant growth in the number of

positions in digital, online, interactive and web-related fields.” said Paul Endacott, Managing Director of Ambition Singapore. www.ambition.com.sg

AVID AWARDED CONTRACT TO SUPPORT MAJOR SPORTING EVENT IN LONDON NEXT YEAR

B

URLINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-Avid® announced on July 26, 2011 that it has been awarded a significant contract to supply production and distribution kit and

expertise to contribute to the broadcast of a major sporting event in London next year. Over the next year, Avid Professional Services, the workflow consultancy and

delivery division of Avid, will collaborate with a third-party technology supplier to provide core broadcast services and onsite support. www.avid.com

BBC ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH FLIPBOARD

B

BC Worldwide and BBC Global News today announces a partnership with Flipboard outside of the UK, making the BBC one of the first international news broadcasters to offer a magazine-like experience of its Twitter feed on Flipboard, the social media magazine for iPad.

The BBC international news section has a specially designated paginated print-like layout, which is automatically populated from the web content that is tweeted from @ BBCWorld’s Twitter account. www.bbc.com

BLP SINGAPORE HIRES TEAM OF FIVE LAWYERS

B

LP Singapore has expanded rapidly with the recent hire of a team of five lawyers, led

by Alistair Duffield, an acknowledged expert in the mining and energy sector in Asia. The current office comprises thirteen lawyers with extensive transactional experience in South-East Asia and South

Asia across corporate finance, asset finance, project finance and private client specialisations. Clients include MNCs, regional Asian conglomerates, financial institutions, airlines and ship-owners and high-net worth individuals. www.blplaw.com

CISI LAUNCHES NEW CISI TV

T

he CISI has launched its latest continuing professional development (CPD) tool, CISI TV. CISI TV will allow busy CISI members to catch up on the CISI’s most popular CPD events at a time convenient to them. Events can be streamed from PAG E 6 6

cisi.org/cisitv to a laptop or PC or Android/Apple/ Blackberry smart phones. Free to CISI members, CISI TV will feature 60 new webcasts and podcasts a year and records the CPD hours on member logs. www.cisi.org

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

CHARITY IN MOTION

C

rown Singapore sponsored and participated in Bare Your Sole for the 2nd year organised by Habitat for Humanity and Barclays the event’s major sponsor. The event is to raise the awareness of poverty in many developing countries, whereby majority of their

citizens are commuting bare footed through undesirable conditions. 95 Crown employees took off their shoes to walk 2.5 km whilst some took the 4 km track in doing their part for charity. www.crownrelo.com/Singapore

FULFORD PR STRENGTHENS CORE PRACTICES WITH NEW CONSUMER, CORPORATE AND SPORTS WINS

F

ulford PR’s consumer, corporate and sports practices have expanded with many new business wins this year. The consumer/corporate practice garnered wins with the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports’ Child Abuse programme, National Heritage Board’s corporate portfolio, Asia Pacific Breweries Foundation

Signature Art Prize and Singapore Writers Festival.

New sports business includes Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore 2011, FINA Arena Short Course Swimming Singapore 2011 and Tiger Balm Active.

Furthermore, the agency had successfully renewed pre-existing accounts with BBC, Pure Group, Beam Global and Lee Hwa Jewellery. www.fulfordpr.com

20TH ANNIVERSARY

W

ith more than 20 highly experienced and qualified master mariners and chief engineers, supported by an efficient and dedicated administration team in Singapore, JCP Marine’s provision of technical services to insurers, solicitors, charterers and ship owners is unrivalled. To these core strengths we are pleased to announce the

addition of dispute resolution services. As a qualified arbitrator, mediator and expert determiner, Captain Julian Brown brings new breadth and direction to the company. With a worldwide reputation for marine consultancy expertise we are proud to be celebrating our 20th anniversary in 2012. www.jcpmarine.com

KADENCE INTERNATIONAL SINGAPORE EXPANDS

M

arket research and insight agency Kadence International Singapore has expanded to meet growing demand for its offering. In addition to an office refurbishment that provides state-of-theart research technology, the agency has welcomed Phil Steggals from Kadence UK and Natalie Sew Hoy from Nestle in New Zealand to its senior management

team. Greg Clayton, Kadence’s MD responsible for the expansion activity, comments: “It’s an exciting time to be in Singapore and we look forward to working with the community to deliver inspiring findings that deliver real meaning to an organisation.” www.kadence.com

WIN A LIGHTFOOT HOLIDAY WITH SHELL

L

ightfoot Travel is a Singapore based luxury tour operator offering bespoke travel solutions to private clients and corporates. The company has recently been contracted to provide a series of bespoke self-driving holidays for Shell’s promotional campaign from September to December PAG E 6 7

2011. Destinations in Korea, Australia, Italy and USA were picked for their spectacular scenery and unique choice of attractions, with a total of 13 trips to be won when drivers fill up with petrol at any Shell station in Singapore. www.lightfoottravel.com

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

MEM B E R S - CO R P O R AT E N E WS

NEW APPOINTMENT

I

nce & Co, the international law firm, has recently increased its business and finance capabilities in Singapore following the appointment of senior lawyer Kunal Kapoor, a Solicitor in England and Wales who is also admitted to the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa in India.

Kunal has worked closely with leading Indian and international shipowners and banks and he has extensive expertise in ship and project finance. www.incelaw.com

NEW FACILITIES FOR MNC’S

F

astrack Projects was established in 1993 founded on the principles of intelligent buildable solutions professionally executed with an integrated design & construction philosophy. For 18 years we have worked with numerous MNC’s in the flavour, fragrance, semi-conductor and oil & gas industries.

<insert pic with caption “Oil States Industries”.

Fastrack have recently completed new storage, workshop & corporate office facilities for Oil States Industries (Asia) & Edgen Murray as well as beverage production, flammable storage & corporate offices for Pacific Refreshments. www.fastrack.com.sg

MICHAEL PAGE CELEBRATES 15 YEARS IN SINGAPORE

M

ichael Page International is pleased to celebrate fifteen years of business in Singapore. First established in 1996, we have fifteen years of local market experience backed by a strong global network and the specialist consultants to assist with all of your

recruitment needs. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those we have worked with over this time and look forward to your ongoing support in this exciting period of growth for our business. www.michaelpage.com.sg

MC CORPORATE SERVICES ANNOUNCES DYNAMIC GROWTH AND EXPANSION

M

C Corporate Services (MCCS), announces dramatic growth through the addition of the following:- MC ACCOUNTING SERVICES PTE. LTD. (MCAS) Accounting, book-keeping, payroll, and compilation services

- MCKAMPOS TAX SERVICES PTE. LTD. (MATS) Tax consultancy, compliance, planning and representation - HC CONSULTANCY PTE. LTD. (HCC) Corporate legal consulting and advisory - SAFNA GLOBAL ENTERPRIZE PTE. LTD.

(SGE) Business consultancy, arbitration, settlement, BPO services MC Group offers 15% fee discount to BCC members www.mccorporate.com.sg

FULL ONLINE CAPABILITIES FOR CLIENTS

C

lients of Meyado Private Wealth Management now have full online capabilities and can manage their investments with ease, following a large investment by the boutique company in its IT infrastructure.

PAG E 6 8

The MAS regulated company continues to be a leader in wealth management, focusing on asset protection as well as pension management with the increasingly popular QROPS. www.meyado.com.sg

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

RUGBY SEVENS 2011 - A ROARING SUCCESS

T

he British Chamber of Commerce was pleased to sponsor a team in the Singapore Corporate Sevens 2011, which after taking a break in 2010 came back as a roaring success.

The tournament was sold out with a total of 8 teams competing from various organisations within Singapore and provided a great day out for die hard rugby fans, children

and mere spectators.

Plus it was all for a good cause, with funds from the day being donated to the Children’s Cancer Foundation, a charity that looks to enhance the quality of life for children suffering from cancer. There is a rumour they will increase the team number to 12 next year...watch this space!

COUTTS SENDS NEXT GENERATION OF GLOBAL CHANGE MAKERS TO ONE YOUNG WORLD 2011

C

outts sent four members of staff aged 27 or younger from its offices around the world to join the next generation of young leaders attending One Young World in Zurich last week.

The global youth forum, which ran from the 1-4

September, had the support of 240 companies including Coutts, which sponsored young leaders from over 170 countries to attend the Summit. www.rbscoutts.com

From left: Greg Kyle-Langley (Coutts UK), Stacey Lee (RBS Coutts Singapore), Bryan Coughtrie (RBS International) and Nicolas Peter (RBS Coutts Switzerland)

SANTA FE JOINS FORCES WITH INTERDEAN

T

he Santa Fe Group recently entered into an agreement to acquire Interdean, Europe’s leading moving and relocation services company.

Headquartered in London, Interdean offers relocation and move management services across Western and Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia. The acquisition complements

and strengthens existing Santa Fe and WridgWays networks throughout AsiaPacific and the Middle East, providing a single source solution to our customers and partners through 120 offices in 50 countries, spanning three continents. www.santafe.com.sg

SAXO BANK ANNOUNCES NEW SHAREHOLDER

T

PG Capital, one of the world’s leading investment firms, is now a major shareholder in Saxo Capital Markets’ parent company, Saxo Bank.

A TPG Capital affiliate has acquired a 30% stake in the Company (along with an option to increase its stake to 40%) from existing investors, including

General Atlantic and Banco Espirito Santo, amongst others. Saxo Bank’s founders, Kim Fournais and Lars Seier Christensen will retain majority ownership and continue in their roles as CEOs. www.saxomarkets.com.sg

STEPHENSON HARWOOD APPOINTS SPECIAL COUNSEL

I

nternational law firm Stephenson Harwood has appointed Peter Church OAM as Special Counsel to help the firm grow its business in Southeast Asian and India. Peter has spent over 30 years as a lawyer and corporate advisor in the markets of South East Asia and India. He has written a number of books on the region PAG E 6 9

including Added Value – the life stories of Indian Business Leaders. Church is Chairman of the AFG Venture Group, a director of the Alliance of International Corporate Advisors and has recently been appointed to the board of the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce. www.shlegal.com

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

MEM B E R S - CO R P O R AT E N E WS

SINGAPORE CRICKET CLUB INTERNATIONAL RUGBY 7S

T

he Singapore Cricket Club International Rugby 7s is now in its 64th year, and is one of the oldest organised sporting events in Singapore and the oldest 7s tournament in South East Asia. The tournament is widely recognised as one of the highest standard international rugby

7’s tournaments outside the International Rugby Board’s world 7’s circuit. So hurry and get your tickets to see the Olympic sport of Rugby 7s right in the heart of the City’s CBD, on the Padang at its best– LIVE! Tournament will take place on 4-6th of November. www.scc.org.sg

BEST BUSINESS HOTEL BRAND IN ASIAPAC

S

hangri-La Hotels and Resorts has been voted Best Business Hotel Brand in Asia Pacific for the eleventh consecutive year and won a total of eight awards in Business Traveller Asia-Pacific

magazine’s 2011 Readers’ Poll. The Best Business Hotel in the World title was given to Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore for the eleventh consecutive year from 2001 to 2011 and the hotel was also voted Best Business Hotel in Singapore. The poll was conducted among the magazine’s frequent traveller subscribers based mainly in the AsiaPacific region. Results will be published in the October 2011 issue of Business Traveller AsiaPacific. www.shangri-la.com

TAX TECHNICAL MANAGER ARRIVES IN SINGAPORE

T

ax Technical Manager, Martin Rimmer, has relocated to The Fry Group’s Singapore office, where he will be available for individual consultations and ongoing tax advice for clients throughout the region.

From his base in Singapore, Martin will also be making

monthly trips to their Hong Kong office to support their clients there, as well as other trips around the region.

Services he offers include planning for: residence, domicile, inheritance tax, tax return compliance, tax with mortgages, and more. www.thefrygroup.co.uk/singapore

WFW ADVISES LENDERS

T

he Singapore office of Watson, Farley & Williams, a leading international law firm, acted as lead counsel to a syndicate of international lenders led by Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale, Singapore Branch, as agent and as security trustee, in connection with a K-SURE

backed pre and post delivery loan facility of up to US$247,200,000 made available

by Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale, Singapore Branch and Banco Santander S.A., as lenders, with Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale, Hannover, as swap bank, to the STX Pan Ocean group to part finance

the acquisition cost in relation to three 400,000 DWT Very Large Ore Carriers (VLOCs) presently being constructed by STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. www.wfw.com

PACNET BOOSTS REGIONAL CAPABILITIES WITH SINGAPORE’S FIRST DATA LANDING STATION

W

ith the launch of its first Data Landing Station (DLS) in Singapore, Pacnet, Asia’s leading independent telecommunications service provider, now offers Tier III data center facilities with direct, high-speed connectivity into Pacnet’s resilient pan-Asian subsea cable network. The Singapore DLS is part of Pacnet’s growing network of connected data centers in the region which offer robust data hosting solutions for businesses. For more information, please visit www.pacnet.com.

PAG E 7 0

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

SINGAPORE 19 th november 2011 Eton Vs Harrow - British Army Vs Simgapore Polo Club - Show jumping display Tickets on sale - VIP Lunch Champagne reception & Assado - Prize giving and DJ

British Polo Day around the world

INDIA

Thailand

Dubai

AR TS & C U LT U R E

FUTURE MEMORY PAVILION – AN INTERVIEW WITH RUSSELL COLE AND LEE CHEE LI

by Kay Vasey, Director, Arts, British Council

T

he British Council, in partnership with the Royal Academy of Arts, London and the Preservation of Monuments Board, Singapore, has commissioned award-winning UK architect Asif Khan to build the Future Memory Pavilion as part of Singapore’s annual architecture festival ArchiFest in October 2011. Asif has worked closely with Russell Cole of Arup and Lee Chee Li of RSP Architects on the design of the pavilion.

Who are you and how did you come to be involved in the Future Memory Pavilion?

RC: I am principal and leader of the Arup buildings group in Singapore. We met with the British Council earlier this year where they shared with us their plans for their Future Memory Pavilion. We were really keen on the opportunity to reaffirm our roles as designers and not just technically orientated engineers and to showcase some of the more creative aspects of our work.

Working on the pavilion as such, is a great way for us to showcase our capabilities.

LCL: I am an architectural graduate from the National University of Singapore. I have been working at RSP Architects, Planners & Engineers, an international multidisciplinary practice, for eight years and I lead one of the design teams consisting of Masterplanners, Urban Designers and Architects. I am currently involved in design and project management of developments, at a wide scale, from masterplan and urban design to architectural design of institutions and industrial buildings.

LCL: I have to convince the team that the pavilion will have to be designed based on the stringent technical requirements imposed by authorities to ensure that the pavilion is safe for the public.

Timely submissions and therefore, early design resolution, are also required in order to get paper work in place for the pavilion to be constructed on time. Similar to all my other projects, we are always racing against time.

to work out what the pavilion could and should be, particularly in relation to what the local authorities define as a building.

For engineers, the other challenge has been to apply our processes and science to some unusual problems and materials, without spoiling the creative thrust of the project. For example, we needed to think about how quickly ice melts, and what the strength of fibre rope is.

What aspect of the design of the Future Memory Pavilion do you like the most?

RC: As mentioned, the pavilion sits in an interesting space between art installation and building and as such, along with its temporary and changing nature makes the project engaging and playful. How are people going to react and interact with the structure? What will this mean for their enjoyment, comfort and safety?

How to do this on a shoe string budget?

All these questions have been challenging and enlightening, especially working in a diverse team of different backgrounds.

LCL: The outdoor ice installation, which we seldom see in Singapore due to our tropical heat and regular downpours. I

I was brought into the project by RSP’s Director, Dr. Liu Thai Ker, who has always been a great supporter of the arts and has contributed widely in shaping the urban and architectural scene of Singapore and many cities overseas.

What have been the main challenges that you have had to overcome in advising on the design and construction of the Future Memory Pavilion?

RC: One of the biggest challenges has been PAG E 7 2

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

am so intrigued by the complex scientific calculations done by Arup to simulate the rate of melting ice. In addition, the encounter with “Rope Architecture” is my first in eight years of work experience.

in Singapore. What are Arup and RSP Architects working on now and in the future that reference this topic?

RC: The use of ice brings to mind measures used to improve comfort in the equatorial climate. This is a constant focus for our work in green buildings where we consider issues like how the shape and construction of the materials give shade and trap breezes and how we can utilise technology to help maximise energy use. Taking clues from traditional and vernacular forms and knowledge of the climate, modern buildings are changing both in shape and their skins.

How are perceptions of the built environment different in the UK and Singapore?

RC: As alluded to earlier, a pavilion in Singapore needs to be classified and impacts a lot of decisions and behaviours.

Whilst the UK building environment is not without its regulations, the requirements and opinions of the different authorities need to be a primary consideration before setting out on a journey of design. Whether Singapore has grown geographically DRAWING Memory Pavilion concept drawings it is Future a result of this type of thinking or just through the careful placing of sand to the common drive to efficiency found in reclaim useful areas to let the city state NOTE Singapore, it and appears difficult to move grow.

Any drawings designs here remain property of Asif Khan Ltd. and This foresight has allowed Singapore’s may not be distributed to third parties withoutbuilding prior permission.CBD to start spreading out around the far away from commonly used materials. This makes working with new Marina Bay that was created and onwards materials and new techniques more difficult over to Marina South. Engineering than perhaps in the UK. That said even buildings to stand on this new land and as a young structural engineer working threading railways underneath is not in London I remember being challenged without its technical challenges, especially every time I was asked to make a sculptor’s as the reclamations stand on extremely work stand up. soft marine clay. Arup has completed our projects on Marina Bay and continues to be The Future Memory Pavilion provokes a involved in other projects that challenge us discussion on climate and land culture to discover new boundaries.

PAG E 7 3

LCL: Architects have to design buildings that respond to the specific context they are located, such as environment and climate.

Since the introduction of Green Mark by the Buildings & Construction Authority to gear developments towards sustainable design in 2005, RSP tops the chart by clinching the most number of Green Mark awards in 2010.

RSP is targeting for more platinum awards, the highest rating achievable, in the current projects and this speaks truly of RSP’s commendable commitment to the green environment.

ASIF KHAN

The Future Memory Pavilion will be open 1-5 Vyner Street, London, E2 9DG T +44 (0)7986 935 128of to the public at the National Museum Singapore from 18 October/ to 19 November www.asif-khan.com studio@asif-khan.co 2011.

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

SPO R TS

RUGBY INSPIRED PROGRAMME TAKES LESS FORTUNATE YOUTHS UNDER ITS WING

by Jo Rathbone, Marketing & Communications Manager, Centaurs Group

A

programme aimed at less fortunate youths in Singapore has been developed by two well known rugby identities in Singapore. Established in June this year, Community Outreach Rugby Development Limited (CORD) is a nonprofit collaboration between Centaurs Group (CG) and Ta’Moko Lions RFC (TLRFC).

CORD - the brainchild of Centaurs Group founder Tim Lambert, Rob Devine and Ta’Moko Lions founder, Daniel Khor will take children and young adults who come from broken homes, low income families, troubled academic and criminal backgrounds and instill in them rugby’s five core social and emotional concepts established by the International Rugby Board; Integrity, Passion, Solidarity, Discipline and Respect.

Why teach these boys the five core concepts established by the IRB? According to Rob Devine, a Director of CORD, these core concepts are vital for character building.

PAG E 7 4

“The boys will learn responsibility; they will learn to work as a team and to respect each other and themselves. We are building their character and they will be able to carry these traits throughout their personal and professional lives”.

Daniel Khor, a veteran rugby coach, started Ta’Moko Lions Rugby Football Club (RFC) in 2006. In his years of coaching at schools, he encountered numerous occasions where some of his team members turned up for training without basic equipment or shoes.

“It really ticked me off and I decided to start a rugby club for some of the less fortunate kids. We started off with 10 players and now the club has over 60 members. We are getting enquiries every week”, Daniel commented.

Rugby makes up only a small part of the CORD programme. Sponsorship dollars are invested in extra academic tuition for player’s who struggle in school. Through CORD, players receive career and personal mentoring from sponsors as well as much needed career advice and internships. The

ultimate goal of CORD is to help these players progress into higher education and receive job placement opportunities.

The CORD collaboration will pool the expertise, resources and contacts which CG and TLRFC have built up over the past 8 or so years. Recipients will be identified and then supported financially and pastorally through involvement as player, coach and/or official in the sport of rugby union through the CORD programme. These children will be given the opportunity to better themselves, to achieve more than they thought possible both sports-wise and personally.

For many of the boys, CORD has provided them with opportunities and experiences that would normally be out of their reach. The team has recently been given the opportunity to compete in a rugby tournament in Phuket and for many of the players; this will be their first time on a plane.

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

CORD has already caught the attention of global logistics giant, DHL. DHL Express (Singapore) will come on board as a Founding Member of CORD. As part of the sponsorship agreement, Ta’Moko Lions will also be renamed as the DHL Ta’Moko Lions.

Rob Devine, says interest in the programme has been fantastic; “These kids are the ones who, without extra help could slip through the cracks. Schools, parents and local leaders recognize this and are behind us 100 percent”.

With DHL’s sponsorship, the Club hopes to reach out to more children, bring out their potential and be able to put them back on course. CORD is currently reaching out to youths at Boys Town and NorthLight School.

Rob adds; “CORD’s vision for these youths is to help them turn around their lives in order to become confident, well-rounded, teamorientated and capable young people who will contribute positively to the Singapore community”.

According to Daniel the boys have now gained a sense of belonging; “They have really bonded and their discipline is improving. Before, they would ignore players they didn’t like or “trash” talk them.

Now they are encouraging each other and they are proud to wear their uniforms. Also, they are learning to be punctual - the boys are never late for a training session”.

Youth mentors from the DHL Ta’Moko Lions RFC currently conduct weekly academic tuition and provide counselling to some of its younger members. CORD hopes to expand its reach to offer its player participants access to work experience, internships and potential full time work.

Youths who are from low to middle income families (less than S$1,800 per month), currently studying in Government or Government-aided schools, and are under the age of 18 as at the joining date, are eligible to apply.

Tim Lambert, who established Centaurs Rugby in 2002 and has known Daniel for over eight years both personally and professionally, strongly believes that this collaboration is a win-win situation for all involved.

“I have been running a successful rugby club for nearly a decade and have always wanted to give back to the community in some way. I felt that it was a fantastic opportunity to get involved with the Ta’Moko Lions and help these kids.

“Through rugby, we hope to inspire and change these less fortunate kids. These principles are building blocks that will not only help these kids build strong personal foundations but hopefully give them a clearer direction in life and guide them in the future,” Tim explained.

The CORD programme relies on corporate sponsorship and can easily be incorporated into a company’s CSR programme.

Membership is open to all companies, institutions and individuals. There are two Founding Members namely Centaurs Group Private Limited and DHL. Fees and benefits will vary between the three tiered membership structures – Front Row, Second Row and Back Row.

“Without sponsorship, these kids would not have the opportunity to better their lives or change the path they are on. We would love for more companies to get on board and help us keep this programme going”, says Rob. To learn more please visit our website www. cordprogramme.org and contact us at info@cordprogramme.org

Annual subscriptions and additional oneoff financial support for events by members will be the main methods of raising funds for the Programme. Other fund-raising activities by the players, coaches and directors will also be undertaken.

PAG E 7 5

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

WIN E C LU B

DRINK BETTER WINE AND PAY LESS!

By David Coleman, CEO Rubicon Reserve Wines

E

ven if you are not an avid follower of rugby, you would be hard pressed not to notice that all eyes are turned to New Zealand right now as it hosts the Rugby World Cup. Throughout September and October, rugby fans would travel from all over the globe to traverse the length and breadth of New Zealand to support their home teams as they contend for the much coveted Rugby World Cup! In New Zealand, visitors also have the perfect opportunity to experience another famous New Zealand activity – wine tasting.

Join us on a tour of some of our favourite wineries.

While you are in Auckland jump on a ferry to Waiheke and visit the stunning Mudbrick Vineyard and Restaurant. Not only does it offer spectacular views of ocean and rolling hills full of lush green grapevines, but you can also enjoy their very own wines matched with outstanding cuisine. A must for all those visiting Auckland. Visit www. mudbrick.co.nz or call +64 9 372 9050 Hawke’s Bay is the first wine region as you head south out of Auckland. We recently welcomed Chris Wilcock of Ash Ridge Wines to Singapore and experienced his wines through some great events. Ash Ridge Wines craft stunning award-winning wines including Cabernet Merlot, Syrah, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. All are hand-crafted, single estate wines which reflect their unique vineyard location in the “Bridge Pa Triangle” growing area in Hawke’s Bay. The gravel soils and low fertility land are perfect for growing grapes – as attested by the recent win of a Gold medal for their 2009 Syrah at the Romeo Bragato Wine Competition. Visit www. ashridgewines.co.nz or call +64 21 817 54 for more information.

PAG E 7 6

The next stop on the wine tasting tour is Gladstone Vineyards in Martinborough, who have an established reputation as a quality boutique wine producer, making award-winning wines of finesse and complexity. The Gladstone district in Wairarapa is a fast growing wine area, as winemakers realise the potential of soil and climate that produce low yielding rich concentrated grapes. The Gladstone style is aromatic, fresh and varietal and has a long history of winning awards, capped off recently by winning two trophies for their Pinot Noir at the Hong Kong International Wine and Spirit Competition. Visit www. gladstonevineyard.co.nz or call +64 6 379 8563 for more information.

We now leave the North Island and cross over to the top of the South Island.

Marlborough is New Zealand’s bestknown wine region and is renowned for its Sauvignon Blanc. Located on the east coast Marlborough is one of New Zealand’s sunniest and driest areas, with cool climate conditions delivering a slow, flavour intensifying ripening period.

Here you will find Astrolabe Wines. Owner Simon Waghorn’s skill and experience combine to capture the essence of Marlborough in wines of purity, focus and elegance and delivers a diverse portfolio including Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Gewurztraminer.

Astrolabe consistently performs well at wine shows and can lay claim to over seven Blue Gold medals and almost as many trophies! Visit www.astrolabewines.co.nz or call +64 3 577 6794 for more information.

Not far from Astrolabe we have another award winning Marlborough vineyard.

Auntsfield Estate is Marlborough’s first colonial vineyard and winery. The dramatic hillside vineyard with its unique variety

of soils is the inspiration to producing exciting hand crafted wines of balance and individuality that display the special terroir of this historic vineyard. Varietals produced on this site include Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Rosé and Chardonnay. Visit www. auntsfield.co.nz or call +64 3 578 0622 for more information.

The final destination on our tour of NZ takes us to Drumsara in Central Otago.

Along with their award winning Central Otago Pinot Noir, the estate also produces Pinot Gris and Pinot Rosé.

All wines are hand harvested from their vineyard, the wines infused with ancient glacial mineral deposits from the soil, flavored by the extreme Central Otago climate and then delicately crafted into wines of substance and suppleness. Visit www.drumsara.com or call +64 27 2247 447

These wines represent some of the best New Zealand has to offer, and you can now enjoy them in Singapore. For more information on these wines please contact sales@rubiconreservewines.com or visit www.rubiconreservewines.com.

building networks • connecting business • creating opportunities

www.britcham.org.sg