DICKSON Poon keeps his cards close to his elegant chest. In fact, they probably leave a crease or two in his yellow silk paisley vest. When the subject is retailing and the newly-opened Harvey Nichols' boutique - with its What's Hot and What's Cool collection - in Times Square, Mr Poon wallows in the comfort of the familiar.
The group executive chairman of Dickson Concepts (International) Ltd and the Dickson group of companies talks with calmness and purpose. Nothing detours him from his charted course.
He reminds you of a seasoned skipper at the helm of a sleek ocean-going yacht, slicing through international waters. At the finish line, success, is the crew's hard-earned but familiar trophy.
When he talks business, Mr Poon sounds like an old taipan. In person, he is anything but. At 37, he's a treadmill runner (easier on the joints) and avid tennis player. He's tall and lean. His face lacks the telltale signs of stress and excess.
Isn't this Hong Kong, isn't Mr Poon one of the territory's youngest squillionaires, recipient of numerous awards for corporate achievements, a man to whom words such as flamboyant, hunk, ''man-about-town'' have been pinned? A secretary escorts you to his office at the end of a corridor. You pass by smaller rooms where polished young executives in pinstripes and collar pins go about the business of empire-building.
His handshake is energetic, the small talk of hospitality comes naturally. He welcomes you, asks how you like your coffee, then gestures towards the sofas, the way a friend shows you to the kitchen table.
