SHANGHAI, April 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon held talks with House of Fraser owner and Chairman of Sanpower Group, Yuan Yafei, in Shanghai on Thursday 12th April during a visit to China to showcase Scottish business to boost exports, tourism and academic links.
Yuan Yafei welcomed the meeting with First Minister Sturgeon as an opportunity to celebrate House of Fraser's Scottish heritage during the 25th anniversary of his founding of Sanpower. Topics discussed during the meeting included Sanpower's investments in New Commerce and New Healthcare, as well as Yuan Yafei's aspiration to bring immunotherapy bio-tech firm Dendreon to the UK.
Commenting on the meeting, Mr Yuan said: "Scotland is central to House of Fraser's history, with the iconic brand having been founded in Glasgow in 1849 and with the subsequent acquisition in 2005 of the equally iconic Jenners of Edinburgh, which was founded in 1838. One of my main strategic purposes for acquiring House of Fraser in 2014 was the opportunity for Sanpower to learn from the business's impressive trading heritage as a globally-recognised brand with a 169-year history.
"As I told First Minister Sturgeon, we are proud to be able to contribute to Scotland's growth and prosperity with our four House of Fraser stores in the country. Indeed the renowned store in Glasgow is our most profitable store globally. We are also delighted to be able to use House of Fraser's heritage as a great international brand to help us accelerate the retail, healthcare and technology businesses that we have established within the Sanpower Group in the last 25 years.
"This is one of the reasons why we continue to invest to support House of Fraser's business transformation to meet changing consumer needs and ensure a hugely successful future for the business."
"I further shared with the First Minister the plan to transform House of Fraser. The ambitious transformation plan will allow House of Fraser to meet evolving consumer trends. We fully back House of Fraser's plan to refresh the brand.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: "I was pleased to meet with Mr Yuan Yafei during my time in Shanghai. It was a welcome opportunity to ask about Sanpower's plans for their Scottish investments."
Mr. Yuan's meeting with Nicola Sturgeon comes only three weeks after holding discussions with Trade Secretary Liam Fox to confirm Sanpower's long-term commitment to House of Fraser's development.
ABOUT SANPOWER GROUP
Sanpower Group Co., Ltd. is a China-based multi-national holding company focused on developing modern services across eight industry sectors: Healthcare, Department Stores, Consumer Technology, Culture & Entertainment, Financial Services, High-tech Manufacturing, Data Management and Property Management.
Sanpower Group is led by Chairman Yuan Yafei, a successful entrepreneur who founded the company in 1993. The Group has controlling stakes in more than 100 subsidiaries and has a 120,000-strong global workforce, including 40,000 non-Chinese employees.
Sanpower Group celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2018, having been founded in 1993 by chairman and entrepreneur Yuan Yafei.
