New Hong Kong 'sweet shoppe' hopes to draw on expats' childhood memories

Expats with a sweet tooth now have a shop to rekindle memories of how they spent their childhood pocket money.

With shelves lined with bottles of sugar-coated candies, a Victorian-style sweet shop has opened in Central, full of temptations that can't be found anywhere else in Hong Kong - from rhubarb and custard, strawberry bon and black death pips.

Mr Simms Olde Sweet Shoppe, on Lyndhurst Terrace, described as "a traditional purveyor of British confectionery", opened its doors on Thursday. The Hong Kong venture is the franchise's first outside Britain and Ireland.

Raymond Shuai Sai-wai, the director of Mr Simms Hong Kong, grew up in Britain and used to buy a lot of the sweets he now sells when he was at university. Having worked in Hong Kong for more than four years as an accountant, he said he wanted a change.

"I just felt I needed to do something that I am more passionate about. Instead of looking at numbers all the time on spreadsheets, I wanted to build my own business and control my life," he said. "I really miss a lot of these sweets and you can't buy these [elsewhere] in Hong Kong."

Shuai, 34, said he called Martin Peet, the founder of Mr Simms, to discuss buying the franchise earlier this year.