Reaching management level in the hotel industry is not easy, getting there before the age of 30 is even harder.
But Jonathan Somerville, 28, Freddy Cheung Shing-fat, 29, and Karen Tam Lai-yee, 29, are proof it is not impossible.
They and four others from Hong Kong and China were among Asia's '30 under-30' winners of awards organised by CATERPLAN, the food service division of Corn Products Company International.
Mr Somerville, who studied hotel management and catering at university, worked in a London hotel before coming to Hong Kong three years ago.
Now he is restaurant manager at the Hong Kong Hotel.
Mr Somerville said: 'I am told that in the hotel world it is best to come to Southeast Asia because it is where you gain more experience. The hotels here [in Hong Kong] are generally busier and larger.
'It is a cosmopolitan city. We get local customers, businessmen, expatriates and tourists.' Kowloon Shangri-la's Napa restaurant manager Mr Cheung, who has been in the industry for 11 years, has been promoted four times in the past six years.