Interview with Mr. Ray Li, the Director of Royal England Safe Deposit Box Limited

Bank is always the core service provider of safe deposit boxes in the past, but in recent years the market of safe deposit box is continuously in shortage and at the result, the waiting time can be reached to 10 years. Therefore, the trend of setting up private safe deposit box business is keeping upwards, including the high-end safe deposit box services of Royal England. Today we have invited Mr. Ray Li, the Director of Royal England Safe Deposit Box Limited to share how the Group brings the new trend of safe deposit box business with providing premium services in high privacy.

R: Reporter
Li : Mr. Ray Li

R: Why does the Group start a private safe deposit box business?
Li : Being aware that there has been a consistent shortage of safe deposit boxes in the market, the Group started planning the business to fill that supply gap after evaluating its own professional capabilities and making sure it had the hardware and software required.

In terms hardware, we had the full support and assistance of our parent company Asia Allied Infrastructure. It has diverse and experienced professionals well-versed to enhance the work with precision in such areas as design, dedicated structure and construction, and smoothly complete related tasks from selecting the location of the vault, calculating the maximum loading limit, how to best line up the safe deposit boxes to security and fire safety provisions. As for software, our vault is manned by security personnel from City Services Group Limited that has more than 20 years of security service experience, definitely reliable.

R: Mr. Lee has worked for the Group more than 10 years, mainly helping it develop business in mainland China. What are the strengths you think you have that agree with helping develop the safe deposit box business?
Li: First of all, I thank the company for giving me the opportunity to help with business development in mainland China, which gave me the chance to visit many mainland cities and get to know different organizations, public and private, and build deep connections.

While the businesses may differ, the management philosophy is one and the same. With the internal training giving me relevant knowledge, then the experiences over time and the proper mindset, the team I managed thinks about how the business could move forward instead of just dwelling on outcomes temporary indeed. We had many challenges at the beginning, but I believe the market has demand potential for safe deposit boxes, hence we have a business worth our effort to build, and members of my team never skirt responsibilities and always work together to solve problems.

R: What plan do you have to develop this new business?
Li: The business has been on track as scheduled since it started operation in July. However, as our target customers are the well-heeled in the society, to appeal to them, we hope to present Royal England as the top safe deposit box service brand in the world. As such, we aim for balance in marketing, for doing too much might mislead people to think that we want to draw mass attention. Thus, we need to be very tactful in selecting the right promotion channel that can enable us to penetrate the market but at the same time present an understated yet prestigious image. Our official website and WeChat page are up and running, and relevant marketing strategy consistently aiming for excellence will complement our business as it develops.

R: Why did you invite the artist Mr. Michael Wong as the brand ambassador of Royal England?
Li: As mentioned, our target customers are the well-heeled and finding the right spokesperson to appeal to them was far from easy. The ideal spokesperson must enjoy general endorsement, have a positive image and depth of experience. Mr. Michael Wong fits that profile. He knows how to enjoy life, has a great family and a positive media image, his lifestyle is exactly the kind that our high-end customers crave.

R: We know Royal England is now producing a series of micro-films featuring Mr. Michael Wong.  Where did the idea come from? What’s the first message you would be relating?
Li: We hope to bring out the unique features of Royal England in the series of micro-film with four episodes. Shooting was breeze with Mr. Wong giving us his full support. In the first episode, Mr. Wong plays a special agent who works at the vault, helping to keep customers’ property safe. The rest of the episodes will be aired by stages within this year. We will let everybody know when the broadcast schedule is available and we hope the audience would find this innovative promotional tactic appealing.