John Lim: Unlikely ascent from lab coats to luxury suites
The entrepreneur paid ‘tuition fees’ on his unconventional route to hospitality
JOHN LIM SAYS HE HAS an obsessive compulsive trait. In his case, it helps him remember everything people say to him – and also means he always does what he says he will do.
This includes the promise he made as a 16-year-old to his late father, that he would rebuild his family’s legacy. This, he says, is the reason why he is aggressively growing his hotel brand and making sure it gains recognition.
“My great-grandparents in China sold off a brand of business that was very well-known around the world and devoted themselves to a life of faith,” he reveals. Many of their descendants, some of whom live in different parts of the world, chose the same path and gave away all they had. Their humble lifestyles, however, were looked down upon by others.
But Lim saw an alternative – building a business so there are resources with which to give and continue giving. “It could be the best road-sweeping company or whatever, it doesn’t matter. But the goal is to create a brand that’s recognisable, and makes money.”
Today, the founder and chief executive officer of the Manor Group is on the cusp of doing exactly that. His journey, however, is a whole other story.
Not so fast
Since he was 12, Lim’s head has been brimming with business ideas. “It’s just overflowing. If someone tells me about a nice plate, I’m already thinking how best to sell that plate.”
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A self-confessed people-pleaser, Lim wanted to attend an overseas butler school to become a professional servant. His parents refused, so the only child headed to the United Kingdom and got himself a degree in chemistry, followed by a master’s in biotechnology from London’s Imperial College. Post-graduation, his father insisted that he work for others first before trying his hand at starting a business.
Lim complied. His first job was at a laboratory in the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, developing materials for the regeneration of body parts. He went on to become an assistant superintendent at the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, as well as a senior fire officer with the Changi Airport Group. He also worked as assistant manager at the National Library Board.
These jobs in the civil service couldn’t be further from his entrepreneurial ambitions, but Lim says they taught him corporate governance. “Singapore’s flag flies very high across Asia because people trust us. We go by the book because you need to take certain steps to do things properly.”
After a decade, he had fulfilled his promise to his father and was free to let his entrepreneurial ideas take flight.
Asset enhancement
At the time, Lim’s father, an electrical consultant, owned several old residential properties. He asked and was given permission to upgrade them at his own cost, and keep the extra money he could get over and above the original rent. It was a profitable business, and after some years, he “got a little more daring”.
With his father’s blessing, Lim started putting money into redeveloping the houses. When he sold them off, he could keep the post-enhancement profits. Along the way, he also got into supporting businesses, including a design consultancy, an interior fit-out company and a logistics firm.
With his savings and a bank loan, Lim in 2011 founded the Manor Group and put S$10 million into building a hotel in Chiang Mai. The location was picked because he’d already been working there since his youth to help refugees living near Thailand’s border with Myanmar.
Many are descendants of Chinese immigrants who used to work in the opium trade and now need proper jobs. “When I started this, the agenda was not to make money,” explains Lim. “It was just a very innocent way of helping people get jobs.”
Amanor is born
Being a 33-year-old with zero hospitality experience then, Lim signed a 10-year management contract with a company to run his 62-key five-star hotel. He is relieved the contract recently ended, so he can relaunch it as Amanor Hotel Chiang Mai – the first establishment under his own Amanor brand.
Eight years ago, he also bought into Bangkok-based management company Unicorn Hospitality, so he could learn the ropes of hotel management. Unicorn now helps would-be hotel owners create their concept and brand from scratch and manage their day-to-day operations. “It’s growing very fast,” says Lim, now 47. “We have 11 hotels under our management care, and more in different phases of consultancy.”
Running a business in another country comes with its challenges, and he says he’s paid his “tuition fees” over the years. “My business is a people’s business, and you need to understand and communicate with people from housekeeping all the way to the general manager. This is something I now advise people about so they don’t have to pay so much in ‘tuition fees’ themselves.”
Lim also co-owns boutique hotel The Edison George Town in Penang, serviced accommodation Shimaya Stays Kyoto, and an onsen wellness hotel in Sapporo that’s undergoing refurbishment. His Chiang Mai and Penang hotels are both members of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, the board of which Lim was recently appointed to. He is the first Singaporean to hold such a position and will represent more than 150 hotels across 13 countries in the Asia-Pacific.
Last year, he also started private equity fund Hacienda to invest in hospitality projects. “This is the next step of growth for the Manor Group,” he says. “The vision is to get the company listed in the next five to 10 years.”
Man on the move
Lim is married to Jasmine Tan, Manor Group’s executive director, and they have three daughters aged 14, 18 and 20.
He is energetic and engaging, not betraying the fact that he sleeps just four to five hours a day. “I was recently dragged to a sleep test, but the doctor said my deep sleep pattern is better than his,” Lim says with a laugh. “And I have to have my dose of cardio to wake me up.”
A trim and highly disciplined man, he used to run 15 km a day, but now does an hour of high-intensity interval training at around five every morning. He then heads to work, before hitting the gym to lift weights in the late afternoon.
For clarity of mind – and to avoid the industry’s drinking culture – he’s also stopped consuming alcohol. “That was on the third of May three years ago,” he states without hesitation.
He spends alternate weeks in Singapore and Thailand, and aims to have at least 10 hotels under the Amanor brand across Asia in the next three years.
“My objective has not changed,” emphasises Lim, who continues to support some 200 children in Chiang Mai. “It is to serve and to give whatever I can with the money. And that’s my life mission.”
Photography: Darren Gabriel Leow
Fashion direction: CK
Grooming: Alison Tay, using Lancome and Goldwell
Location: Baia at Esplanade Mall
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