Wing Yip is a Chinese supermarket chain founded by Woon Wing Yip in England in 1970.[2] The original Birmingham store now also serves as its headquarters, international trading division, property investments hq, online store (mail order), warehouse, and national distribution centre. The company has superstore branches in Manchester, Croydon and Cricklewood.[3]
In addition, the company has expanded into wholesale and export (international trade) and real estate development/management, by undertaking activities such as siting its stores within larger commercial centres.[4] Having supplied Chinese restaurants and takeaways, the British Chinese community, and Chinese food enthusiasts for over five decades, its high-quality tofu-based meat substitutes have also made it popular with the rapidly increasing number of people changing to vegan diets since the 2010s.[5][6][7]
Founder
The founder, Woon Wing Yip, was a Hakka born in Dongguan County, Guangdong, China, in 1937. He arrived in the United Kingdom from Hong Kong in 1959 with £10. With an annual turnover of 80 million pounds, he became the first Chinese tycoon in the UK.[citation needed]
Wing Yip was honoured by Her Majesty The Queen on 10 March 2010 at an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace and awarded an OBE for his services to the Oriental food industry.[citation needed]
1959 – Wing Yip arrives in England by boat from Hong Kong.
1960s – Wing Yip opens a restaurant with partners in a former tea shop in Clacton-on-Sea. This is quickly followed by a further three restaurants and two take-aways in the East Anglia region. In 1968, he is joined by his brother, Sammy Yap who worked in the hotel trade in Hong Kong.
1970 – Wing Yip and his brother Sammy open a specialist Chinese grocery in Digbeth, Birmingham, supplying more than 1,000 genuine Chinese products to restaurants and takeaways as well as to Chinese families in and around Birmingham.
This first Wing Yip store in Digbeth employs fewer than ten people.
1975 – After five years of trading, the business moves to larger premises in nearby Coventry Street where it is to be based for the next 17 years. The new site offers car parking for customers and attracts Chinese business tenants including a travel agent.
1977 – Lee Sing Yap joins his brothers Wing Yip and Sammy. Together they open a Manchester store on Faulkner Street in Manchester's Chinatown area.
1978 – A second Manchester store opens on Addington Street.
1986 – The brothers buy and develop a 2.24-acre (9,100 m2) site on Oldham Road – Manchester on the edge of the city centre. The Manchester operations are brought together at the new premises.
1988 – The first London store opens in Cricklewood on Edgware Road (A5 next to Junction 1 of the M1).
1992 – The Birmingham business moves from Coventry Street to premises in Nechells in Birmingham. The site together with its associated Wing Yip Business Centre attracts tenants such as solicitors, a doctor and accountants who use it as a base to serve the Chinese community.
1995 – The Wing Yip Brand of sauces launches. A retail range is also launched.
1995 – The second London store opens in Croydon on Purley Way (A23). The site incorporates its own Business Centre with Chinese and Malaysian restaurants as well as other Chinese businesses. The site wins a Croydon Design Award for its architecture and Chinese Arch.
1996 – The Birmingham site grows to 7 acres (2.8 ha) with the purchase and development of further land including a public road. The additional land is developed to include a large modern central distribution warehouse and an Oriental-style Business Centre with a range of Chinese businesses including two fine restaurants, a bank, lawyers and accountants.
The landmark Chinese Arch with handmade tiles from China is erected.
1998 – Wing Yip and his brothers donate a 40-foot (12 m) granite pagoda to the City of Birmingham in thanks to the city and its people for providing a home for them and their families and for the city's support over the years. The pagoda which was hand-carved in China is erected at Holloway Circus close to Birmingham's Chinese Quarter.
2003 – The Manchester site is redeveloped to provide a truly Oriental setting for customers, with an enlarged cash and carry store and a new Business Centre incorporating a successful Chinese restaurant, a branch of HSBC and other tenants.
2004 – Wing Yip's online shopping site launches[1] primarily to serve UK consumers and orders are received from Europe and as far away as Australia. The site includes recipes, cooking and dining information as well as cultural sections.
The Wing Yip range of sauces finds favour with visitors to the BBC Good Food Show at the NEC.
2005 – The Wing Yip exhibit at the International Food Exhibition at Exel in London and tastings of the sauces prove extremely popular with visitors.
The redevelopment of the Cricklewood site begins. The project will see the building of a new enlarged cash and carry store open to the trade and the public with underground parking, a Business Centre including a Chinese restaurant together with an office building all in an Oriental style.
Cricklewood location.[8]
2008 – Wing Yip awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Birmingham City University
2010 – Wing Yip awarded Lifetime Achievement award
2010 – Wing Yip – OBE
2013 – The Birmingham site undergoes a redevelopment and refurbishment increasing the site to 10 acres
The Wing Yip Group now operates from four freehold sites covering 16.3 acres (6.6 ha) and employs 300 staff.
Other sites in the UK have been proposed and new stores are to be built.
Awards
October 2008 – The Mai Siam range achieved Gold Stars at the prestigious Great Taste Awards
September 2008 – Chairman, Wing Yip has recently been presented with two coveted awards in recognition of his outstanding business success and services to the local business economy. Birmingham City University presented him with an honorary doctorate to mark his 36-year contribution to industry in the city.
April 2008 – Wing Yip (Manchester) Ltd achieved North West Business of the Year in the Ethnic Minority Business Forum Awards, to celebrate the contribution made by black and ethnic minority businesses.[9]
2006 – Wing Yip was the Winner of The Lord Chan Award for Outstanding Individual.[10]
June 2005 – Tony Ritson, Information Technology Manager for Wing Yip, wins Best Information Security Manager 2005 as awarded by SC Magazine.[9]
2008 – Mr Wing Yip was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Birmingham City University
2010 – Wing Yip scoops Lifetime Achievement award
2010 – Mr Wing Yip – OBE
2012 – Mr Wing Yip was awarded an Honorary Degree from Aston University
Wing Yip bursaries
Wing Yip established the W Wing Yip & Brothers bursaries to encourage and provide financial assistance to a set number of students of Chinese origin, local and from overseas, to complete their studies in the United Kingdom. Since its inception over 300 bursaries have been granted.[citation needed]
Online shopping
Wing Yip Online Store was set up in 2004 to provide customers who are not able to get to one of the Chinese supermarkets, easy access to Wing Yip's products. They also have an online shopping site and a "cookery school".
£104.4 million (2014)