All About Manchester

Sweet oriental dreams

Just when we thought you could not possibly squeeze another hotel bedroom into Manchester, local entrepreneur Gerry Yeung unveils the Yang Sing Oriental and predicts a growing market for years to come.

He may exude a scholarly aura, with his frameless glasses, pensive look and measured responses, but 53-year-old Gerry Yeung was born to entertain. Try interviewing him, for example. If you think you'll be chasing him for a couple of begrudgingly given quotes, think again. He will feed you, make sure your tea cup is never empty, and offer his time and thoughts with a generosity that is utterly disarming.

In short, he is just what you would expect from a seasoned, self-made entrepreneur whose restaurant, the Yang Sing, has come to epitomise fine Cantonese dining.

The Yang Sing was launched in 1977 by the entire Yeung family, who moved to Manchester from Hong Kong in the early 70s to find a city full of old disused cotton warehouses and a few restaurants scattered in between.

True, when the restaurant first opened it did not have much competition, but getting the project off the ground was still hard work and the whole family pulled together to make it happen.

Gerry Yeung, Yang Sing, All About Manchester

Gerry Yeung always likes to relate a story: "My sister went to Lancaster University at the time and she would come home on Friday afternoon after the last lecture and work Friday evening, all of Saturday and all of Sunday. Then she would catch the very last train on Sunday to go back to uni, and she did that for three years."

The team spirit paid off and the Yang Sing was soon established as the region's premier Chinese restaurant. But the Yeungs were an ambitious family, who saw the restaurant as just the beginning of what they hoped would become a world-class brand encompassing many hospitality ventures. A hotel was a natural extension for the brand and Gerry Yeung started to consider the idea almost immediately after the Yang Sing moved into its current premises on Princess Street in 1985.

He explains: "In 1985, all of the land behind us belonged to BT and they were selling off all their excess properties at very realistic prices in order to prepare for privatisation. But we had just moved here and borrowed what appeared at the time to be an enormous amount of money. So we didn't want to stretch ourselves too much. My greatest regret is that I didn't acquire this land − I thought that it would have been ideal for a hotel."

Another opportunity to acquire an existing hotel in the 90s did not materialise, so the Yeungs shelved the plan and continued to expand within the restaurant sector. The Yang Sing Group now owns the Yang Sing in Chinatown, as well as Cathay Dim Sum and Orient Xpression at the Trafford Centre, employing a total of 200 people. It is still a family business, run by Gerry's older brother Harry.

It wasn't until four years ago when the Yeung brothers decided that the time had come for the hotel. They bought a Victorian warehouse next to the Yang Sing and painstakingly transformed it into the first oriental hotel in Manchester (pictured) − creating another 30 jobs in the process.

"This is how we describe it," says Gerry Yeung and self-consciously clears his throat to deliver the official PR line. "It is a boutique hotel with 48 individually designed rooms and suites in the heart of Manchester − a perfect fusion where East meets West and service meets style."

A shameless self-promoter? Yeung is no shrinking violet but he talks with the credibility that only someone who rolled up his sleeves and got mud under his fingernails building a project from scratch can possess.

All About Manchester had a look inside the Yang Sing Oriental when we used it in this month's fashion shoot, so we know exactly where Yeung is coming from. The hotel has the exterior of your typical Mancunian Victorian warehouse. But walk inside and you enter a luxurious and exotic world of Chinese screens, silk duvets, dark wood floors and orchids. Designed by Manchester's very talented Roberta Fulford, it has a "modern classic oriental" style, which means you get the oriental vibe without a single Buddha in sight.

The proud proprietor is eager to tell us all about the project. "Our aim has always been to expand the Yang Sing brand. So we needed a simple formula that could easily be replicated but that would also stay true to the sense of luxury associated with the Yang Sing.

"What we are creating is a luxury hotel with fantastic facilities in the rooms but a minimum amount of top-class facilities in the public areas. So there is no full restaurant in the hotel because the Yang Sing is right next door, but there is a champagne bar where guests can nibble on a range of international food, from dim sums to Lebanese meze. And Robert Kisby, who was the chef at Le Mont, is working with us as a consultant on our room service menu."

And why would you want to leave your room when the mini-bar, Wi-Fi and in-room entertainment all come with the compliments of the management? The Yeungs' brand of hospitality has zero tolerance for client inconvenience so all the facilities in the rooms are completely free.

Of course sweet oriental dreams do not come cheap and the Yang Sing Oriental will be charging rates similar to those of the Lowry and the Radisson Edwardian. And although the mere mention of these hugely successful chain hotels would strike fear in most aspiring hoteliers' hearts, Yeung is not the timid type.

"The fact that most hotels in Manchester are owned by national and international giants is in fact one of the main reasons why it makes sense to have a boutique hotel that has a completely different style.

"There are approximately 2,000 bedrooms in the 4-5 star market in Manchester and the occupancy rate in the last couple of years has been between 70 and 80 per cent. Out of these 1,600 customers, I just want 48 to buy into my unique product. How difficult can that be?"

The hotel industry in Manchester seems to be thriving at the moment. In the last couple of years alone the city has celebrated the launch of the Hilton, Macdonald Manchester, City Inn and Ramada Manchester Salford Quays. Still to come this year in addition to the Yang Sing Oriental is the Crowne Plaza, which opens in Manchester city centre this autumn. In fact, perhaps the only problem facing the industry is staffing all the new hotels fast enough.

"We have managed to recruit quality staff but recruitment has not been a smooth ride," admits Yeung. "There is a lot of competition so you have to fight your corner to get the best staff."

But surely this boom cannot continue forever, can it?

"Manchester is still undersupplied in terms of hotel bedrooms. It's still an expanding market. In the last few years the number of hotel bedrooms has increased in Manchester yet the occupancy rate has not gone down and the rates have actually gone up. So there has been strong demand.

"Obviously now we're talking about a slightly different macro-economic picture. You have a global credit crunch and a possible downturn in the UK economy. I think there should be caution for the next couple of years until the whole thing settles but that's just the economic cycle and I'm convinced that once we come out of it demand for hotel bedrooms in Manchester will increase."

Yeung is confident that there will always be people wanting to visit Manchester, whether for business or leisure, which means that the city will always be on the radar of hotel operators and investors.

"Manchester is a very popular destination for the corporate market because it is a thriving commercial centre with a large international airport. There are many national and international businesses operating in Manchester and the city reportedly handles half of the AIM-listed companies in the UK.

"The leisure market is also very vibrant, largely because the city council is very keen to promote all sorts of different activities in Manchester. From the ground-breaking Manchester International Festival to world-class sporting events, there is always something happening here. A couple of months ago the city hosted the World Swimming Championships, for example. And let's not forget Kylie, who is coming to the M.E.N. Arena this summer." He tries to say the Kylie bit with a straight face but can't quite manage it.

"If people are not coming to Manchester for an event, they are bound to come for the shopping, the food, the clubbing or the football. All these things help Manchester maintain its image as a great leisure destination."

Gerry Yeung believes the Yang Sing Oriental is unique in the UK and although the hotel only opens this month he is already looking at other cities to replicate the project in. Which proves that the fearless entrepreneurial spirit that once made Manchester the world's first industrial city is not a birthright but a hard-earned privilege.

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Sweet oriental dreams

Just when we thought you could not possibly squeeze another hotel bedroom into Manchester, local entrepreneur Gerry Yeung unveils the Yang Sing Oriental and predicts a growing market for years to come.