The Sunny Side of Business

HARD WORK, PERSISTENCE, AND TO NEVER GIVE UP ”

Like many of our Tanglin Alumni throughout the world, Sunny Gill is making waves as one of the driving forces behind Gill Capital - the Singapore-based business behind successful retail heavyweights such as Candylicious and H&M. We caught up with him to find out more.

Sunny (right) with Tanglin friends

It’s been almost 30 years since Sunny Gill left Tanglin in 1995, but he still counts his time there as one of the most memorable times in his life. He reminisced with a smile, “I had a fantastic time at Tanglin! My life at school was filled with a lot of laughter; I enjoyed the sports days and hot dog sales. I also remember taking part in the Christmas play and playing Father Wolf in The Lion King.”

Sounds like Sunny’s Tanglin experience was a fun and exciting one! What was it like studying in Tanglin from 1989 to 1995? “Back then, my teachers played a very significant role in my learning journey. Their positive influence as well as the opportunity to meet peers from various countries from across the world, opened my eyes to so many different views and perspectives – and a whole new way to think about life.”

GOING INTO THE FAMILY BUSINESS

After leaving Tanglin, Sunny continued his secondary education at United World College (UWC) and went on to study Economics and Marketing at Babson College in the USA. After he graduated, Sunny moved to Dubai in 2008 to set up and oversee ten retail and F&B concepts in the Dubai mall, which is the largest mall in the world. He successfully built the business into one with annual revenues exceeding US$60 million a year and subsequently received an offer for his equity in the business in 2013. Sunny then moved to Indonesia to launch the H&M franchise, which opened two stores within the first month and has since expanded to over 92 H&M stores in Thailand, Indonesia and now Cambodia with plans for 100 more stores. He also runs the Gill Capital Family office and keeps a keen eye on its investments in F&B, lifestyle as well as tech businesses in the US, Europe and Australia. What is his secret to success? Sunny told us, “Hard work, persistence, and to never give up”

STARTING FROM THE BOTTOM-UP

Although it’s only been 16 years since Sunny graduated from university and joined the family business, he is no stranger to the inner workings of retail. From a young age, Sunny and his sister Sunaina would spend weekends and their summer breaks making deliveries or helping out in one of their family’s retail stores. Working would help the siblings in more ways than one because it not only taught them how their family business worked from the inside out, it also helped them develop a keen business acumen.

Knowing what he knows now, how would Sunny advise Tanglin alumni or current students who want to run their own business in the future? He said, “Self-belief, perseverance and consistency are essential qualities for setting up a business. Entrepreneurship comes with a lot of challenges and the entire world is against you and will tell you that you are making a mistake. You have to overcome that, and then build a business! Tough, but very exciting and highly rewarding.”

KEEPING IN TOUCH WITH HIS TANGLIN ROOTS

As a successful businessman, Sunny believes in keeping his connections with friends - especially those from Tanglin - close to his heart. In fact, two of his best friends were from Tanglin and even asked Sunny to be their best man at their wedding. He said, “It’s such a blessing to have them as my closest friends and I will treasure it. 34 years of friendship and counting.”

And that’s not all. Sunny is also planning on sharing his entrepreneurship experience with Tanglin students during one of Senior School’s Career Days so don’t forget to keep an eye out for the latest update! ■