Sporting group plans to play an ever stronger role in global market

A chartered accountant by training, and a competitive sportsman and entrepreneur by nature, Neil Pryde has seen a great many changes in Hong Kong in the past five decades.

Pryde arrived in Hong Kong in 1963 to work as a sailmaker. In 1968 he represented Hong Kong at the Mexico City Olympic Games and in 1970 he set up the Neil Pryde sail manufacturing company.

Today, the Pryde Group is a global player in marine and adventure sports markets, with operations in China, Europe and North America and is this year's winner of the Enterprise Award.

The group has three key business platforms - manufacturing, distribution and brand management. Last year, it had consolidated revenues of HK$628.89 million and gross profits of HK$228.86 million.

Since 1970, the company's major shift has been moving its manufacturing operations to the mainland, while distribution subsidiaries spread throughout the world and brand management, marketing and creative control stayed in Hong Kong.

'In the 1970s, Hong Kong was still a cheap place to manufacture,' Pryde recalled. 'It was the era of plastic flowers and 'Hong Kong shirts'. It was at the cheap end of the value chain, making others' products at low prices. But Hong Kong's expertise is now in design and marketing - that's a huge repositioning in 40 years.