Invest in TaiwanDepartment of Investment Services, MOEA
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B&Q was founded in 1969 to sell home improvement products. It is a member of the Kingfisher Group, one of Britain's largest retail business groups. In 1998 B&Q merged with the number one brand in home improvement, Castorama of France, to become Europe's largest, and the world's third largest, retail chain selling Do-It-Yourself (DIY) home improvement products. B&Q has retail outlets in the UK, Poland, Taiwan, Turkey, China, Ireland, and Canada. The founding of B&Q stimulated growth in home improvement, which has lasted uninterruptedly for 33 years. B&Q currently has 320 retail outlets in the UK, with a market share of 13.5%. Its business revenue in 2002 was ￡3.7 billion; B&Q currently has 33,000 employees.
Test Rite Group, the Taiwanese enterprise which is B&Q's partner in Taiwan, was formerly one of Taiwan's largest trading companies. In recent years it has transformed its business to focus more on retail and distribution. In addition to being a merchandise supplier for B&Q, it is also a supplier for other retail channel operators like Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and Makro.
Among the many overseas investments made by B&Q, the B&Q Test Rite retail chain is currently the most profitable.
In 1995 the UK's B&Q (a member of the Kingfisher Group) and Taiwan's Test Rite Group formed Test Rite Kingfisher Co., Ltd. as a joint venture to bring European-style do-it-yourself home-improvement products to Taiwan. Within the space of just seven years, fifteen branch stores were opened across Taiwan, with two more slated for opening this year. Taiwan's B&Q Test Rite stores are the most profitable of B&Q's overseas investments. Since the first store opened in Nankan, business revenue has continued to grow steadily. The Taiwan market is highly receptive to new products, which makes the island a great place for international vendors to introduce new products and services. Taiwan's consumers have high spending power not only for basic necessities, but also for products that add more fun to everyday life. The potential of this consumer market should not be overlooked.
Teaming up with First-class Partners to Bring in Trendy New ProductsThe UK's Kingfisher Group and Taiwan's Test Rite Group have each tapped into its own unique strengths to create a mutually beneficial relationship. By introducing the DIY (Do-It-Yourself) concept to Taiwan while successfully giving it a local flavor, B&Q Test Rite has become synonymous with DIY home improvement products in Taiwan. Taiwan has a large number of high-caliber enterprises which are ideal candidates for partnerships with international vendors.
Since setting up its Taiwan operation, B&Q has also set up retail outlets in mainland China beginning in 1999. The Taiwanese market became a litmus test for B&Q's development strategy in the Asia Pacific market. Due to the mature consumer environment and the absence of a language barrier between Taiwan and the mainland Chinese market, Taiwan is the perfect launch pad for international businesses planning business expansion into China.
Taiwan is actively promoting free trade in the service sector. The service sector is being opened up to foreign competition, especially for knowledge-intensive service industries such as R&D service industry, IT application service industry, technical service industry, telecommunications services industry, enterprise service industry, medical services industry, education service industry and so forth. In addition, the government provides incentives to encourage international service industries to set up their operation centers in Taiwan. In general, the overall environment of Taiwan is very constructive to the development of the service sector.
High-quality human resources, integration of the resources of the ethnic Chinese community in other countries, a commercial sector which has reached a high level of development, and a pool of managerial talent which possesses extensive experience in international operations: these are what give the Republic of China a competitive advantage. The Taiwan government has implemented a series of measures to help the island become the ideal location for the management of regional or global operations for multinational businesses. These measures include tax incentives, cultivation of management and R&D personnel, the opportunity to lease land in industrial districts at a low rent, relaxation of restrictions on recruiting hi-tech talent from overseas, and making it easier for businesspeople to enter and leave Taiwan. A "one-step-shopping" contact window has been set up to provide all relevant information and services, helping businesses to set up operations centers for the Asia-Pacific market which can provide a starting point for the development of the Greater China market.
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