Woon Wing Yip OBE is investing more than £5 million on a major expansion of his Nechells-based Chinese and oriental superstore and headquarters.
Work to enlarge Wing Yip’s existing store and head office to 83,000 sq ft and build a new 30,000 sq ft warehouse on the 10 acre site began last February and is nearing completion.
Wing Yip now supplies more than 2,000 Chinese restaurants throughout the 海角视频.
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The business, run by Wing Yip’s nephew Henry Yap, is expanding elsewhere, too, including a Chinese superstore in Nottingham. A store in Cardiff and the expansion of existing premises in Manchester, Croydon and Cricklewood are all under way.
The company has also expanded its traditional Chinese food offering into a pan-Asian concept, covering the cuisine of Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.
He is passionate about education – he sees it as the secret of his own success - and has handed out hundreds of bursaries over the last 12 years to youngsters of Chinese descent to help them complete their education in the 海角视频. He also supports young chefs with the Oriental Cookery Young Chef of the Year award for 18 to 25 year-olds.
It was Woon Wing Yip’s ability to speak English when he came to the 海角视频 from Hong Kong 50 years ago that meant he could move up the ladder in business.
He is proud of the fact that his four children – Albert, Brian, Cindy and David - were all able to have a good education, thanks to their father’s success. All his children work in the business with the exception of Cindy who works for a television company in Hong Kong.
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Woon Wing Yip, who is 74, arrived in the 海角视频 by boat from Hong Kong in 1959. He opened a restaurant in a former tea shop in Clacton-on-Sea and went on to open three more restaurants and two takeaways in East Anglia.
His first Chinese grocers shop opened in Digbeth, Birmingham in 1970, employing just 10 people. Now his food empire turns over more than £100 million a year, employs 400 people and supplies more than 2,000 restaurants nationwide.
As well as selling Wing Yip branded products in his own supermarkets, they are also sold through national chains including Tesco, Sainsbury and Waitrose, and there is a thriving online business. The company is consistently profitable.
The Wing Yip business has branched out into property development, management and investment through W Wing Yip and Brothers Property and Investment, with nearly 100 commercial and residential tenants around the country. Their trading and property businesses are easily worth £95 million.
He also established the Wing Yip Charitable Trust, topped up by annual donations from the Wing Yip business, which supports the Prince’s Trust and also gives money to educational, poverty relief and sickness charities.