Our Committees-BritCham Guangdong

Jeremy Sargent OBE

Jeremy Sargent OBE is the founding partner of JSA, a legal consultancy firm based in Guangzhou which provides legal advice to foreign companies in China. Jeremy is a qualified lawyer who has lived and worked in China for over 15 years. Jeremy advises clients on many legal aspects of establishing and operating business in China. Jeremy is also Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce Guangdong and sits on a number of business-related committees. Jeremy advises extensively on labour law issues.

Christopher Devereux

Christopher Devereux is Managing Director of Chinasavvy HK Ltd, an outsourcing and manufacturing quality control company based in Guangzhou. He started outsourcing in China in 1996 and opening Chinasavvy in 2002. He has over 30 years’ experience in metal and plastic processing in different parts of the world including Australasia, United States and Europe. Currently Chinasavvy employs over 60 people in Guangdong and Vietnam including over 35 engineers.

Jamie Rowlands

Jamie is the partner in the Intellectual Property team and head of the Guangzhou Representative Office for Gowling WLG (UK) LLP Guangzhou Representative Office which is a full service international law firm. He has experience in all areas of contentious IP matters, and have acted for clients in patent, trademark and anti-counterfeiting cases in the Intellectual Property and Enterprise Court, High Court, Court of Appeal, Supreme Court and the European Patent Office in many different sectors including retail, entertainment, software, telecoms, manufacturing and media.

Garry Russell

Originally from London, my family and I have been fortunate enough to live in some of the most exciting and dynamic places in the world. I qualified as a teacher in the UK and have since been in education for over 25 years. Professionally, I have held headships in the UK, Middle East, Thailand and China. Currently I am the Vice-Principal of The British School of Guangzhou, the largest international school in the region. I am also a fully-qualified school inspector, hold a Master’s Degree in Education and have been a keynote speaker and workshop leader at various educational conferences around the world. My wife is also a teacher and my 10-year old son is sports mad and a member of a local football team in Guangzhou. When not in school, I have a passion for travelling and sport, especially running (having completed over 50 half-marathons and 3 full marathons.) The whole family are ardent supporters of the LA Dodgers Baseball Team, having seen them play on several occasions.

Ricky Wong

Ricky is a partner at KPMG in charge of its Southern China Transaction and Restructuring Practice. He holds an MBA and is a member of the Chartered Accountants of England and Wales as well the Hong Kong Institutes of Certified Public Accountants. He has been with KPMG since 1987 and has handled a large number of multinational audit clients. Ricky moved to Guangzhou in 1999 specializing in merger and acquisitions advisory services to multinational companies, PRC companies and private equity firms. He is also a regular speaker at Sun-Sen University and the University of Hong Kong Economic Daily.

Crystal Zou

Ms. Crystal Zou has over 18 years of experience in government relations, PR, Sales and Marketing. Currently she is Business Development Consultant in Arup covering areas of southern China. She works directly with the Management team in Arup China Group in the development and execution of South China marketing and business development strategies. She has strong sales and marketing skills, sound understanding of business environment and opportunities in the UK and China market. She also has rich experience in dealing with Chinese authorities and excellent cross-cultural communication skills.Prior to joining Arup, she was Senior Inward Investment Officer in UK Trade and Investment at the British Consulate General in Guangzhou. In her earlier role as Trade and Investment officer, she was responsible for supporting market entry of UK companies, advising and assisting them to do business or setting up in South China.She completed her Master Module in Business Economics at the Imperial College London Business School in 2015 after earlier postgraduate degree studies of Advertising and Marketing at the University of Leeds in the UK and graduate study of International Business at the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies in China.

Ju Li

ARB and RIBA registered architect with 22 years work experience in China and UK, educated in both China and UK achieving BArch and MArch degrees. She now has the role of Managing Director of Holmes Miller office in Guangzhou, a British Architectural Design Company. Personal experience has been enriched by working in two very different countries and cultures.Comprehensive experience of all kinds of architectural projects ranges from small residential, to large sports stadia and urban design. Management skills cover individual projects and include establishing and managing a new practice, securing projects, and maintaining client relationships. The practice has grown from a startup to approximately 30 staff and has already recently had to move to larger premises.Between 2005 and 2016 was a permanent part time lecturer at the Glasgow School of Art until relocating to China. International practical experience, mentoring and tutoring in universities has developed the ability to bring real world challenges and successes into theoretical teaching.All of the above experience is embodied in her considerate and generous attitutude towards colleagues and acquaintances which would be an asset to the Chamber in Guangzhou.

Simon James Lambert

I am currently the Director of Business and Chief Financial Officer at Merchiston International School in Shenzhen. I have held similar roles in the UK, Romania and Qatar. In Romania I was an elected Director and Board Member of the British Romanian Chamber of Commerce and represented the Chamber in the Coalitia Educational Task Force working as a lobbying group with the Romanian Government. Before working in education, I gained 20 years’ experience in the media with both UK national and international newspapers and magazines working with newspaper publishers, printers and distributors in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, Singapore and throughout Europe. Armed with a degree in English and an MBA from one of the top UK business schools I bring a wealth of experience and knowledge from all over the world. I am passionate about education, in particular the British education system. A love of football, golf, literature and music helps keep me sane!

Clare Wootton

Clare Wootton is CEO of CWD Management. Clare has 20 years corporate experience, including over 10 years in retail buying in the UK working for some of the UK\\'s largest retailers. This was followed by several years in a sourcing management role working a large American retailer based in Shenzhen China.Having gained a unique and diverse set of experiences in retail buying and sourcing out of Asia, Clare left Walmart in 2014 and since then has created a professional service, providing consultancy to UK retail & Internationally branded product companies that seek to understand the Chinese market, the Chinese consumer or investigating the possibility of launching their company or product into the Chinese market.

Ralph Woodcock

Ralph is an Associate Partner with St. James’s Place and based in Shanghai, China. Ralph is a member of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) and has worked in the offshore financial services industry for over 5 years. He is very passionate about delivering tailored and holistic solutions to his clients and committed to building long-term relationships by providing a source of trusted advice dependent on their financial needs. Because of this, Ralph is also an active member of the expatriate community in China.Ralph’s focus is on ensuring his clients receive the best help possible providing expertise with the design, and implementation of customisedinvestment solutions. These goals can vary from wealth management, retirement planning, education planning or specialist insurance needs.Ralph believes that investing doesn’t need to be complicated and it’s up to St. James’s Place to make it simple and transparent.Outside of work Ralph likes to spend time with his family and explore the historical landmarks throughout China and visit their many hidden treasures. Originally from England, Ralph also enjoys following the Premier League and Formula 1 racing.

Joe Liang

Business Development Manager of ARUP. Representing the company in marketing events. Responsible in promoting ARUP services in sectors e.g. Commercial buildings, Health care, Education, Infrastructure, Factory etc. Representing ARUP in Executive Committee Shenzhen British Chamber of Commerce 2018.

Helen Zhou

Currently the ISS AP Office School Development Advisor (China), and Director of External Relations for Shekou International School (SIS), Hailan has served SIS for 7 years overseeing School Operations, Compliance, Facility Development and Government / Community Relations. Prior to joining ISS Helen gained expertise in cross-cultural communication and government protocols through leading successful team efforts in Hong Kong / Shenzhen cross-boarder government projects. Her many years of experience in the creative industry in Beijing, Shenzhen and Hong Kong as founder and curator of the contemporary art institutes has significantly broadened her horizons. She is also a visual artist, creative writer, dancer/choreographer using her personal time in art creatio. Her first solo art show is opening at OCT Loft in Jan. Her passion for education, art, literature, languages and philosophy enables her to effectively blend global visions into the local context.

Janica Shao

I am passionate and always thriving to take on a new challenge, I worked with Hilton for 8years and with 15years working experience in hospitality industry. I was in my current role, commercial director who responsible for sales and marketing for almost 4 years at 2 key Hilton hotels with outstanding performance.I am in Hilton Women in leadership program, which coach me how to be female leader successfully and manage work and family well.

Chairman

Jeremy Sargent OBE

Partner, JSA

Vice Chairman

Christopher Devereux
Managing Director, ChinaSavvy

Treasurer

Ricky Wong
Managing Partner, KPMG

Guangzhou Committee Member

Crystal Zou
Business Development Manager, ARUP

Guangzhou Committee Member

Jamie Rowlands

Chief Representative,

Gowling WLG (UK) LLP

Guangzhou Representative Office

Guangzhou Committee Member

Garry Russell
Vice-Principal,

British School of Guangzhou

Guangzhou Committee Member

Janet Xu

Tax Partner, PWC

William Kah Wah SUNG

I am British Citizen living and working in Guangzhou since 2013 - my latest corporate role in Guangzhou was the Chief Operating Officer of HSBC Operations for HK & China; this role allowed me opportunties to deal with external entities such as corporate, regulatory and government; and a wonderful experience in running a 10,000 person organisation which included Finance, HR, Risk & the 18 lines of business. Having work in Banking for 18 years across 8 cities, it has allowed me to integrate with a diverse culture of personalities and outlooks on the world. I felt very equipped to move out of the corporate role to start my own business in Executive Coaching as well as lead a group of aspiration people in a FinTech in a new industry – which has shaped me further in enterprise governance, management and leadership.British business in China are flourishing and being a Brit I was the 2018 Judge of the British Business Awards, I innately wanting to help people and as a businessman, I personally want to contribute back where possible, and being a committee member is a role I will cherish and look to fulfil with passion. Ethnically I am Cantonese, which has always helped, and hopefully maybe be able to bring a Cantonese English twist to some of the events & activities of BritCham.

Guangzhou Committee Member

Jimmy Li

President , HiTouch Consulting

Nicholas James MACKIE

NICK MACKIE is General Manager of Edinburgh International Investments (EII), a company established by the University of Edinburgh and a Hong Kong listed healthcare investment company to introduce UK medical expertise and technology to the China market.The company currently collaborates with one of Shenzhen’s leading public hospitals in the field of diabetes. EII is also establishing its own 200 bed multi-specialty hospital in Fujian Province and is invited to partner on major healthcare projects in Guangdong and Hainan Provinces. Prior to his appointment with EII, Mackie was Head of Partnership Strategy at the University of Edinburgh, responsible for developing the EII business model, relations with the industry partner and identifying bridgehead projects.A seasoned communications specialist with two decades of international experience as a business and financial correspondent, Mackie worked for nine years in China documenting its emergence as a major economic power.2005: Emmy Award for his China reporting on US television. 2009: Edward R Murrow Award for best international documentary.2018: China-Scotland Business AwardMackie has worked in over 30 countries, across Europe, South America, the Middle East and Asia.He was educated at the University of London where he studied Philosophy, Politics and History.

Chairman of Shenzhen

Sub-Committee

Ryan Peter Dodgson

Partner, Capstone Financial (HK) Ltd

Ryan Peter Dodgson

Ryan has spent the majority of his professional career in Financial Services in London and New York and was invited to Asia 13 years ago to further invest in his career within the Private Wealth Management industry.Ryan holds Hong Kong SFC Type 1, 4 & 9 licenses and is also regulated by the CIB. He was previously licensed by the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment in the UK where he worked at Bank of America and later became Associate Publisher at Euromoney Institutional Investor Plc. Prior to relocating to Hong Kong, Ryan lived for eight years in Shanghai where he co-founded and was a Director of Premium Finance Group Ltd. Ryan’s advice covers all areas of wealth management, including retirement planning, wealth protection, savings and investments. Outside of the office Ryan is currently Vice Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce in Shenzhen which includes working closely with their members and the local community on events, seminars and fund raising for charity. Interests include cycling, golf and supporting the Welsh rugby team.

Shenzhen Sub Vice Chairman

Clare Wootton

CEO, CWD Management

Shenzhen Committee Member

Helen Zhou

International School Service, Director of External Affairs/School Development Advisor, ISS Asia Pacific

Shenzhen Committee Member

Simon James Lambert

Director of Business / CFO, Merchiston International School

Shenzhen Committee Member

Joe Liang
Business Development Manager,

ARUP

Shenzhen Committee Member

Ralph Woodcock

Associate Partner, St James's Place

Shenzhen Committee Member

Janica Shao

CEO,

Commercial director, Hilton Shenzhen Shekou

Shenzhen Committee Member

Nicholas James MACKIE

General Manager, Edinburgh International Investments LTD