Helen Read & Benjamin Yong: Mother-Son Teamwork At It's Best

 

Our Mother's Day Special on the Breakfast Grille: Helen Read, the founder and Managing Director of Ms.Read & her son, Benjamin Yong, the founder of the BIG group with its collection of restaurants and supermarkets like Plan B, T forty twoand Ben's Independent Grocer.

Helen Read of Ms.Read discusses:

-- how she started just sewing buttons to designing a clothing line for fuller-bodied women

-- the process : from design sketches to clothes on the rack

-- quality control in the commercial manufacturing of the apparel 

-- how Ms.Read stays ahead of the competition

-- expansion plans & franchising opportunities

-- update on the Dude and the Duchess

-- online shopping on the Ms.Read website

-- Recently it's been highlighted that Malaysians in general have high levels of household debt -- has this impacted the retail sector?

 

Benjamin Yong of the BIG group discusses:

-- his new culinary adventures post E&O: how he has managed to set up 20 restaurants and supermarkets in just 18 months

-- why most of the stores are concentrated in Bangsar

-- striving for consistancy in the quality of food served at all his outlets

-- Some outlets will be more profitable than others, so how will he make the decision to axe an outlet

-- teething problems in expanding so quickly

 

Family Relations

-- what's the family dynamic like, coming from a family of entrepreneurs and having almost all of the family involved in the business

-- what Ben has gained from working directly with his mum

-- Helen's advice to other entrepreneurs who work with their family members