UK creative mission to China

September saw Beijing host its first ever design week with London as its guest city. Figtree’s co-founder, John Holton was invited alongside Sir John Sorrell (Founder London design week), Brent Hoberman (Executive Chairman of mydeco.com and Chairman of made.com) and Tamara Mellon (Founder, Jimmy Choo) to talk about how UK creativity can be used to create wealth for Chinese businesses.

The event was a great success, placing China firmly on the creative map.

“Branding is becoming increasingly important for Chinese organisations as they look to grow market share and increase margins. Today, there are very few Chinese global brands. We have joined the mission to show how UK strategic and creative talent can be used to help organisations build brands”, says John Holton.

“It signifies the role the UK can play as an established design hub, in helping develop Beijing’s burgeoning design scene” John Sorrell.

Lord Marland (Chair of the UK Business Ambassadors’ network) who had a high involvement in the event said "I am delighted to be leading this delegation of world- leading creative companies to China. My goal is to show China why the UK is the place to do business and our firms are the people to do business with. In 2010 UK-China bilateral trade was estimated at an impressive £40 billion, and I look forward to seeing this figure grow as our trading partnership deepens.”

We are honoured to have been part of the BJDW and look forward to seeing amazing things emerge from the great city.