Organization Considering London winner: Lulu Guinness
Lulu Guinness has been selected as a regional winner for London in the HSBC Enterprise Considering initiative. 
Following its nomination as a London regional finalist and Thought Exchange visit to the UAE, Lulu Guinness has been declared a regional winner in the HSBC Organization Contemplating initiative.
Exports are the secret to the development of luxury handbags and equipment group Lulu Guinness and chief executive Martin Mason says the story has only just begun.
“We’re exporting to nine countries, but the crucial markets we want to get into in a huge way are China, India, the Middle East and South America,” he says.
“We’ve just began in Hong Kong and will be beginning in the Middle East in 2013. In India, Brazil and the rest of South America we’re performing investigation.
“Our turnover is £6.5m, which is double what it was three many years ago. We anticipate that it will double yet again in the following 18 months.
“Exports are totally driving our growth. In two years’ time I would picture 75-80pc of revenue will be exports.”
Founded in 1989 by Lulu Guinness, the designer daughter of former Baring Asset Management chairman Sir Miles Rivett-Carnac, who nonetheless operates as creative director, the firm is based in west London and has 27 employees.
Mr Mason says he was thrilled that Lulu Guinness had been chosen as a regional winner of Business Thinking, gaining accessibility to lending of up to £6m and a financial reward of up to £120,000.
“I am elated,” he says. “It’s a true recognition of the challenging perform that absolutely everyone has place in in excess of the past couple of years.
“Our company has grown and it’s down to our men and women and the fact that every person is empowered to deliver and there is true vitality inside this business. We’re a actually entrepreneurial company.”
He strategies to invest the funds on a additional exports push, creating connections and financing research on new markets.
“It’s about acquiring into markets, comprehending how these markets operate and generating positive we’ve got the correct framework, the appropriate men and women to investigate and supply a significant enterprise proposition to enter these markets,” he says. “The majority of the income will go into establishing our export organizations.
“We’re taking a dominant place in British fashion, just like Paul Smith and Vivienne Westwood.
“Japan is our greatest market for retail income, the second most significant is the Uk and the third is the US. America is really crucial to us. We’re looking to build a relationship in the States which gives us a significantly higher footprint in terms of the number of shops we have.
“We have eight stores in London, Japan, South Korea and New York. We want to have a whole lot a lot more than that.”