​Sanpower to introduce premium Chinese brands to Europe via HoF

London - Sanpower Group, the Chinese owner of British department store chain House of Fraser, has announced the launch of a new supply chain programme, designed to create a gateway for premium Chinese brands to gain access to the UK and EU market through House of Fraser.

The new initiative, which aims to further strengthen House of Fraser's position as a brand platform for premium Chinese brands, was launched at the debut Sanpower Global Supplier Conference in Nanjing, China on Tuesday. The global supply chain management platform aims to encourage local premium brands and products to expand into new markets, supporting the Chinese governments 'Belt and Road vision', designed to boost trade across Asia and further.

Sanpower launches UK-China supply programme to launch premium Chinese brands through House of Fraser

"The traditional image associated with Made in China is changing. Increasing numbers of high-quality Chinese products are becoming popular with British and European consumers," said Simon Pickering, House of Fraser's UK Global Product Sourcing Director in a statement. "Once these products enter House of Fraser’s sales channel, they will be able to access Europe and the greater global market, given quality and credit endorsement from House of Fraser."

"Furthermore, consolidating our global supply network through made-in-China products and Chinese brands will support House of Fraser in further boosting sales and competitiveness," he added. The program will see the new Sanpower supply chain and branding management centre take over and manage House of Fraser's trade orders, thereby increasing the offering of in-house products while shortening the product development cycle and delivery.

The new programme is open to all premium lifestyle brands, from Apparel & Lingerie, to Home, Electrical Appliances and Accessories. "We are still in negotiation and discussion at this stage. With the development of the global supply chain management centre, we will see an increased number of brands and products that participate in this business. The details of the brands will be available in due course, said a spokesperson for Sanpower to FashionUnited.

"This is a great platform for premium Chinese products to reach the UK and further afield across Europe," commented Kong Jun, Sanpower’s New Commerce Industry Group CEO. "Chinese manufacturing has transformed in recent years from extensive processing and production into a new era marked by independent designs, proprietary brands, and innovation. We are excited to use our tremendous network of resources and cross-border retail expertise to bring the best of Chinese retail to the UK market in a way that brings great value to customers and brands alike."

A growing number of Chinese manufacturers are actively seeking out ways to expand overseas and establish a strong presence for their brand and products in the UK and Europe, following the 'Belt and Road' initiative in China. "In the past, limitations of talent, channels, and costs have made it difficult for a company to develop export business alone," noted Sun Xiaoqing, Chairman of Jiangsu Hongkun Supply Chain Co. Ltd., one of the participants and advocates of Sanpower’s Global Supplier Conference.

"International supply chain platforms like this help to bring together high-quality suppliers with similar needs to form a group. In the future, as these enterprises share their information and data, cross-border and cross-business interconnection will create greater value."

Photo: Courtesy of Sanpower Group