A firm at the crossroads

CHERYL Lee is learning the ropes from her father, Lee Chin Tiong, founder and managing director of Huationg Holdings, a civil engineering and logistics solutions provider for the oil and gas, construction and marine port sectors.

It has been a rags-to-riches story for Huationg, since its humble beginnings in the early 1980s with just one piece of equipment - an excavator - managed solely by Mr Lee. Today, Huationg employs 600 workers, has 700 pieces of equipment under its belt, and has business spanning mainly three main divisions: Huationg Inland Transport Service, Huationg (Asia) and Hua Resources.

Ms Lee, who holds the title of business development manager, is entering her father's business at an opportune time. With business growth plateauing in Singapore, Huationg now stands at the crossroads. It wants to sustain the local business while replicating its capabilities in regional markets, where it sees huge business potential. But first, the group must realign business strategies and harmonise internally to support further expansion, according to Huationg's group general manager Jimmy Chua.