Olympic Accountant

[ 24 ] A Plus + July 2005

The
brand
+25
FEATURE INTERVIEW
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For Neil Pryde, training as an
accountant was a first and
fundamental step towards
building the successful sports
equipment business that
bears his name.
F
or the adventurously inclined, Neil Pryde is a widely respected and recognised
name. From the comparatively mature windsurfing business, to the
latest craze of kite surfing, the company manufactures products at many different
stages of their life cycle. Pryde built up a branded business with a global
reputation – albeit within a specialised field. Most remarkably, he did this with
virtually no domestic market as a base. Compare this with big name rivals like
Quiksilver in Australia and Salomon in France, which made their names at home
before going global.
Of course it’s rarely smooth sailing in the fast-changing sports business. But accountancy
has helped Pryde to weather a few storms. “In hindsight, it proved to be
an excellent discipline for me,” he says. “Many businesses fail simply because the
guys don’t do their sums. Accountancy also gave me a great foundation in commercial
law and ethical standards.”
Pryde started his career in New Zealand in the 1950s, working first as a tax assessor
and then a financial accountant. A love of sailing brought him to Hong Kong in
the 1960s, where he landed a job with a sail manufacturing company. It proved to
be a short step from there to setting up his own company, Neil Pryde Ltd.
The company started off making yacht sails, but business really took off in the
early 1980s, when his name became synonymous with high-quality windsurfing
Neil Pryde
Born 1939, Te Aroha, New Zealand,
Neil Pryde moved to Hong Kong
in1963 and represented Hong Kong
at sailing in the 1968 Olympic Games.
Since then he has raced in some of
the world’s most famous yachting
events, including the prestigious
Sydney to Hobart race in Australia.
Pryde is a member of the New
Zealand Institute of Chartered
Accountants (NZICA).
Brand names owned
• Neil Pryde Ltd
• Flow
(snowboard boots and bindings)
• JP Australia
• Cabrinha (kite surfi ng)
Awards
• The Chinese Manufacturers
Association of Hong Kong: Top Ten
Brands
• 2004 Hong Kong Awards for
Industry: Consumer Product
Design Certifi cate of Merit
www.neilpryde.com
July 2005 + A Plus [ 25 ]

Our total cash
cycle is up to six
months, which
is pretty long
compared to
your average
Hong Kong
manufacturer.
But the margins
are also larger.
That’s the
advantage of a
branded business.
equipment. By the middle of the decade the company was producing more than
300,000 boards and sails annually, using factories in China and Ireland. But interest
in windsurfing began to level off and Pryde decided to look around for the next
big wave.
It was during the 1990s that Neil Pryde expanded into new adventure sports,
first snowboarding and then kite surfing. Initially, it was hard to build a business in
these risky markets – there were liability factors and the fear that these sports would
become passing fads. Research and development took time and large capital outlays
had to be considered. “We got into the kite surfing business at an early stage of its
evolution,” says Pryde. “But that meant we had to amortise our costs over a very
short time frame. Those products took a lot of energy to develop.”
Over time the company succeeded by finding niches within these new markets –
developing bindings for snowboards and safety release mechanisms for kites. These
products added profits to complement the core windsurfing business.
But Pryde has remained mindful of the dangers in diversifying too quickly. “The
sports business is so dynamic, you have to be in touch with market trends,” he says.
“It has been important for us to protect brands and patents, to guard our leading
position in the windsurfing business. It is still the biggest earner for us, even if it is
a smaller sport now than it was in the 1980s.”
Meanwhile, the company continues to explore new markets. A growing line of
wetsuits, accessories and leisure apparel has given the Neil Pryde name extra exposure.
With the acquisition of Omareef Thailand in 2000, the company has emerged
as one of the largest neoprene wetsuit manufacturers in the world.
Pryde sees future growth through vertical integration – from design and manufacturing
through to global distribution. And because of the strength of his brand
name, he has the flexibility to do so. “Our total cash cycle is up to six months,
which is pretty long compared to most Hong Kong manufacturers. But the margins
are also larger. That’s the advantage of a branded business.”
The company’s brand will be seen by a worldwide audience in 2008, when its
sails, boards and masts will be used for all teams in the windsurfing category of the
Beijing Olympics. In addition, his name will be emblazoned on sails of the 49er
class sailing category. While the yacht sail division of his company is now run separately,
Pryde still enjoys royalties and the benefit of brand exposure. “Windsurfing
and sailing are good clean image sports. There is a certain amount of aspiration – in
fact a whole lifestyle built around them – of which we can take advantage.”A +
[ 26 ] A Plus + July 2005