Lynn Grebstad of PR consultancy Grebstad Hicks Communications talks strategy with Adam Tam of the firm’s China office

The company was formed in 1998 following a merger of two firms, and after just two years of operation in Hong Kong, was ready to expand to the mainland.

In November 2000, it opened a branch office at Guangzhou, a thriving business district in the Pearl River Delta.

"Hong Kong is a brilliant springboard to China, where there are so many opportunities," said co-founder Lynn Grebstad, a Briton. "The office in Guangzhou is only two hours away from Hong Kong, so very convenient for business in Shanghai and Beijing."

Ms Grebstad had worked in high-level public relations, as head of corporate communications for Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels (parent company of the Peninsula Group), before forming her own consultancy in 1995. Her specialty was marketing and public relations for luxury hotels.

The merger between Lynne D. Grebstad & Associates and Paul J. Hicks & Associates proved successful, with the newly formed Grebstad Hicks Communications quickly securing Jumeriah hotels and Madame Tussauds as clients.

"It made sense for the company to concentrate on the luxury hospitality market," said Ms Grebstad, who had made many contacts in the hotel industry and the media since moving to Hong Kong in 1982.

Starting a business is easy in Hong Kong, she said. "I began with HK$500,000 (US$64,000). You don't have to pay VAT and I had low overheads. In PR, you are your own business and I did work very hard - contacting former employers and capitalising on my experience."

Her perseverance paid off, and the firm's name has a growing reputation in both Hong Kong and China.

"We have several China based clients, including Sheraton Sanyu and Sheraton Hainan, and we have a good relationship with leading hotel operators Starwood," Ms Grebstad said. "We work with them on promoting the Shanghai Regis and Beijing Spa properties. The office in Guangzhou costs us half the price of having an office in Shanghai. We'll set up an office in Shanghai when we are ready, but at the moment we are sticking with what we have got." 

Ms Grebstad has always loved Hong Kong. "There is nowhere like it in the world," she says. "It is fully international, so cosmopolitan, but it is also like a small town. You can walk down the street and see lots of people you know - and that is very much part of the appeal."