How Lever Style chairman Stanley Szeto has learned from past mistakes and bases his success on listening to the right people
- The Hong Kong businessman took the helm of the family apparel business at age 25 and has transformed it into a publicly listed supply chain manager
- He overcame challenges in implementing a new strategy, then found opportunities for expansion amid the disruptions of the Covid-19 pandemic
As a frequent guest on business news shows, Stanley Szeto, executive chairman of apparel supply chain manager Lever Style, always seems to have the right answer. He looks at ease in front of the camera and smiles confidently before the interviewer has finished asking a question, as if he already has the response down pat.
His confidence is not without justification. Since taking over the family business in 2000 at only 25 years old, Szeto has transformed it from a struggling shirt maker into an agile “apparel engine for digital retail”, as the company’s website reads today. Lever Style has also been listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange since 2019.
Learning that the company was not in good shape marked a turning point in Szeto’s life 21 years ago.
“I do remember one evening, my dad sat me down in our apartment and he said, ‘Son, our family business is going to go bankrupt pretty soon – maybe three, six months – just be mentally prepared for it’,” Szeto says.
“Maybe it was out of a little bit of youthful arrogance [that] I told my father, ‘Why don’t you let me give it a shot, but then please retire’.”
The origins of Lever Style date back to 1956, when Stanley Szeto’s grandfather, Richard Szeto, founded a shirt-making business at a time when Hong Kong was at the top of its game as a manufacturing centre for consumer goods.
