Wearing a private label

Crystal Group is one of Hong Kong's largest garment makers, with production bases in 15 cities manufacturing for global brands such as Levi's, Uniqlo, H&M, Victoria's Secret, Marks & Spencer and Walmart.

The group made a record HK$16 billion in revenue last year, a sharp 71 per cent rise over 2011. Yet Crystal is not a listed company, and its senior executives are so low profile that you seldom read about them. The company's founding chairman, Kenneth Lo Lok-fung, comes from a legendary Hong Kong manufacturing family. The garment empire built by his father, Law Ting-pong, in the 1950s was regarded as one of the four biggest in the industry.

With the money he made from the business, the family later moved into the property sector. At one point Law owned three listed companies - including Bossini International and Laws Group. His sons and grandchildren include some of the city's most well-known fashion leader, who founded apparel brands including Ztampz, Mocca, and Bread and Butter.

So why is Lo so low profile and did he ever consider listing Crystal? "People change when their company goes public. They don't need as much self-discipline. For example, it would be a bit over the top to ask the CEO of a listed company to fly economy class," Lo told the South China Morning Post, adding he always flies economy on business trips. "We don't need money; we don't need fame. If we need to expand we have enough cash for takeovers. Whatever decision we make it affects only us. If we listed we need to answer to shareholders; we will then be bound to seek short-term profit and lose the guts to do things that truly matter to the company's long-term development."

In 2003, for example, the group purchased a business management system which helps integrate multiple business processes and minimises the risks of duplication and inconsistency with data. While the SAP system was good for the company in the long run, it cost more than half of Crystal's earnings at the time. To Lo, that seems exactly the kind of thing that a listed company is not supposed to do.

The company also invested in other infrastructure that others may find unnecessary. While the company may not be seen as an active advocate of labour rights issues, it was one of the first to install sprinkler systems in its mainland factories.

"We began installing the sprinkler system in our mainland factories more than a decade ago when most others could only think about fire extinguishers when talking about enhancing labour safety," Lo said.