Jason Choy still expresses surprise that his company, Welcome Gate, won a significant contract with London 2012.

But perhaps he shouldn’t. This small but steadily growing company has been successfully supplying electronic access and security services to public and private sector organisations for several years, counting Vodafone, Bentley Motors and the Ministry of Defence among its clients. Also, London 2012’s procurement strategy and the establishment of the CompeteFor portal have demonstrated a significant Government commitment to making supply chains more accessible to ‘supply ready’ small and medium enterprises such as Welcome Gate.

As the economic downturn continues, Jason is convinced that Welcome Gate can continue to grow by simply being better than its competitors. “It’s survival of the fittest,” he comments. “If you’re doing business today the same way you did eighteen months ago, you could be in trouble. Everyone has to run that little bit faster and jump that bit higher just to maintain their current position.” 

Jason developed his skills of entrepreneurship at a very young age. He helped out in the restaurant business established by his parents in Sydney, Australia, where they had fled as refugees from China. Although his parents lived within the Chinese migrant community, Jason explains that assimilation has been his key to success, particularly since moving to the UK. “A lack of contacts can be a barrier, but a good network is vital in business. Putting the effort into building connections within mainstream networks is good sense and good practice.”

An example of this is Jason’s membership of the Institute of Directors (IoD). He is full of praise for the quality of business support and networking that he has been able to access through the organisation. That passion has been returned by Jason setting up the IoD’s Young Directors Forum (YDF) at the Central London branch. The YDF is not age-specific, but rather designed for people who are relatively new to the directorship of companies, providing them with purposeful and interactive events. The membership is more diverse than that of the wider IoD and there is similar activity taking place at other IoD branches around the UK. Welcome Gate is also active with young people’s groups near to its base in Southwark, South London.

Responsible world citizen and successful entrepreneur… it’s no wonder that Jason Choy and Welcome Gate are flourishing.  

Contact: www.welcomegate.co.uk, jchoy@welcomegate.co.uk, tel + 44 (0) 20 7117 3268