01: The Midas Touch

PETER LIM, CHAIRMAN OF SOO KEE GROUP

Lifestyle and Retail Entrepreneur Of The Year

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[dropcap size=small]W[/dropcap]hile Soo Kee Jewellery, or its companion brands SK Jewellery and Love & Co, are household names, few are aware that the Catalist-listed Soo Kee Group started out as a sundry goods store and photo finishing studio. Fuelled by his late father’s desire to venture into the gold trade “as it is valuable and never goes out of fashion”, Peter Lim and his siblings took the plunge in 1991, converting their family’s profitable photo finishing studio in Bedok Central into the first Soo Kee Jewellery store. The brands have since expanded to 60 showrooms across Singapore and Malaysia. Last year, revenue totalled $139.3 million, a 3.5 per cent increase from 2014. In July, it launched SK Bullion, which buys, sells and stores investment-grade gold, silver and other precious metals for customers in South-east Asia. Next, the 56-year-old wants the group to provide “a 360-degree turnkey solution for customers, from buying to selling, recycling and storing gold throughout the region”.

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02: A Palate For Passion

HELENE RAUDASCHL, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF INDOGUNA SINGAPORE

Food and Beverage Distribution Entrepreneur Of The Year

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[dropcap size=small]F[/dropcap]orget blue blood. Some might say that foie gras runs in Helene Raudaschl’s bloodline. Her mother ran a company in Hong Kong that imported speciality food, fuelling young Raudaschl’s palate and passion for gastronomy. So it was no surprise that she eventually found herself in the food business. When she joined Indoguna in 1997, then known for supplying premium chilled meats to hotel clientele, the company’s yearly revenue was $7 million. Under her guidance, Indoguna has become a market leader off ering an array of gourmet foods sourced from across the world to trade and direct consumers. Its 2015 revenue totalled $71.8 million. The 42-year-old says: “Trust your
instincts, and follow it through with utmost passion. Success and rewards will come naturally.”

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03: THE MAN WHO DOESN’T BELIEVE IN ‘NO’

DAVID LOW, CHAIRMAN AND CEO OF FUTURISTIC STORE FIXTURES

Manufacturing Supply Chain Entrepreneur Of The Year

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[dropcap size=small]I[/dropcap]n every Victoria’s Secret, Gap, H&M or Uniqlo boutique across the world lies a Singapore connection – store fixtures like shelves and hanging bars are produced by Futuristic Store Fixtures, which is headquartered here. The group’s convivial CEO, David Low, built the company from a two-man outfit in 1979, when he joined his uncle’s general construction business as an 18-year-old who could barely string an English sentence together. Today, the group dominates the global industry, having rolled out more than 6,500 retail stores across 56 countries, generating close to $55 million last year. “The first thing my uncle taught me is nothing is impossible,” the 54-year-old says. “We have a philosophy of not failing our customers, and will put effort into coming up with a viable solution for them.”

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