Richard is the CEO of Gerald Edelman, specialising in strategic management, corporate finance and private equity. Richard also supports clients with structuring joint ventures and commercial alliances, whilst assisting businesses to prepare for sale. Richard holds several non-executive board positions for companies in various sectors, ranging from investment advisors and technology companies to those in the retail, hospitality, business services and professional services sectors.

Richard is currently on the Steering Committee Chairman of our established international alliance, XLNC, as well as a fellow member of the ICAEW, Life Insurance Associations and the Institute of Directors.

Richard focuses on helping his clients think about the dynamics of their business, taking great pleasure in going the extra mile and exceeding their expectations.

Lynn has an undergraduate and master’s degree from the Manchester Business School in international business, finance and economics. She is a Chartered Management Accountant and is an ATT qualified Tax specialist. 

Lynn founded HY accountancy in 2014 and incorporated it with a well-established accountancy practise in 2019. She is a partner at Gerald Edelman LLP and heads the company’s Asian Division. She has a broad range of experience covering accounting, compliance, international tax and investment management expertise, assisting UK and international businesses across multiple industries with cross border transactions including residency, domicile advice, estate planning, tax matters and China market entry services and also provides services to the UK Chinese community. 

Lynn is fluent in English and a native Chinese Mandarin and Cantonese speaker. She is active in Chinese communities and serves senior executive voluntary roles for Chinese commercial associations both in the UK and China. 

Lynn has hosted and organised numerous large-scale events, actively promoting Sino British trade and culture exchange activities and is known as a keynote speaker and lecturer at various universities in the UK and conferences worldwide. 

John is Chair of China UK Business Development Centre (CUKBDC), Chair of the Institute of Directors for the City of London, Senior Adviser to the China Chamber of Commerce in the UK (CCCUK) and Chair of Carers Trust.

John has been operating in China since 1999, was a NED of CBBC and more latterly, following CBBC’s closure of most of their offices in China, he and the previous CBBC regional team established CUKBDC in 2021 to develop and promote UK-China trade through their extensive network of 13 offices in China.

His entry into China started in 1999 when, as CEO of Sanderson, he established global trading partnerships in China and Asia which included the setting-up of a manufacturing joint venture, brand licensing agreements and numerous retail franchises.

John is a Chartered Accountant and was previously with PWC in both London and New York.

With over 20 years of experience in international business promotion, Mr. Rilong Wu is Currently working as the Chief Representative of the Qingdao Centre for Business and Commerce in UK. Mainly involved in bilateral international investment and trade promotion and providing consultancy and policy advice for business partners between Qingdao and Britain and other European countries; Rilong Wu has previously worked as Director of Foreign Investment Management of Qingdao Municipal Bureau of Commerce, Director of Business Promotion of Europe and America, Director of Trade and Investment Promotion of Asia of Qingdao Municipal Bureau of Commerce. Within his term, Qingdao's annual FDI ranking as the top five cities in China. He has also witnessed many local Qingdao companies, such as Haier, Hisense and Decai group set up projects for investment and trade in the UK. He has traveled to more than 30 countries for business promotion, participated in negotiations over 100 investment projects. Rilong Wu holds an MBA degree and an MSc degree in Economics. Multilingual in Mandarin, Korean and English.

Mark Hedley is Deputy-Head of Investment Promotion (London) at InvestHK, the government department responsible for attracting and retaining Foreign Direct Investment into Hong Kong. Mark has a 20-year long career in trade and FDI promotion and strategic consulting, with a deep specialism for China and East Asian markets.

Prior to joining InvestHK, Mark worked as a senior Director at the China-Britain Business Council, the leading business organization helping UK companies to enter China. He has led multiple tech sector trade missions to China and has supported a wide range of clients with their China market expansion strategies.

Mark previously spent 7 years permanently based in Mainland China and has led the Asia-Pacific operations of B2B International, a leading business-to-business research consultancy. He also worked in an on-the-ground business development role for Intralink, a leading East Asia business development consultancy. He has a rich experience helping clients from different sectors to expand into the China and Hong Kong markets.

A fluent Mandarin speaker, Mark holds a Masters in Chinese Business and International Relations from the University of Sheffield, and an MBA from Lancaster University. 

In 2016, Michelle joined the Shenzhen European Office (SZEO) which represents the City of Shenzhen and offers consultation to European companies wishing to enter the Chinese market through Shenzhen, as well as to Shenzhen-based companies looking to enter the European market.

Michelle holds an MBA and an MSc in Risk Management. She came to London in the year 1999 and in addition to her studies, she was working closely with various colleges in Cambridge as an Educational Consultant and was also briefly working in the City of London with Risk Management.

Prior to that, Michelle most recently worked as an Investment Advisor and Analyst in Asia after having worked at the China National Center for Clinical Laboratories where she was responsible for the country-wide quality control system for all clinical laboratories in hospitals and blood banks. Her research results have won several national scientific and technological achievement awards.

Having worked in the foreign investment department of Shanghai for 10-odd years, Lu Jian has witnessed the changes in China's foreign investment management system, which was from the previous approval system on a case-by-case basis to the current management system that focuses on both service and management. He personally deep-participated in the Shanghai foreign investment legislation work, the introduction of relevant documents of the municipal government, and engaged in the management and service of foreign-invested enterprises. In July 2022, he served as the chief representative of Invest Shanghai London Office, mainly involved in investment, trade promotion and economic and trade cooperation between Shanghai and the UK.
 
Shanghai Foreign Investment Development Board (“Invest Shanghai”) was founded by the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government as a professional two-way investment promotion agency, offering multiple public investment services such as consultation, liaison and investigation. Invest Shanghai has established overseas offices in the US, Japan, the UK, Germany, and Sweden.

Richard is the Founder and Director of Trident Marketing, a leading marketing agency specialising in combining creative thought and fresh ideas to deliver truly integrated marketing and design solutions. For 33 years, Trident Marketing has offered a full service to a range of clients, helping them reach their full potential – both in the UK and overseas. The company specialises in graphic design, CGI, digital marketing, web development, photography and videography. Richard prides himself and the business on understanding clients’ needs from the very beginning, right through to finalised production. Trident Marketing’s dynamic approach harnesses the most effective marketing and design channels for clients’ businesses to ensure all campaigns work in harmony with one another and provide maximum impact. New this year is the introduction of a London office at Ten Trinity Square, EC3N 4AJ – contact Richard on 07850 212418.

Sharmila qualified as an English solicitor 29 years ago. She specialises in UK-inward Immigration Law and British Nationality and has been lawyer to prominent international families, Middle Eastern royalty, celebrities and global companies. Having worked closely with senior officials at the Home Office on many sensitive cases, Sharmila is able to draw on experience and guidance in the early stages of a matter. She is past Chair and member of the Law Society’s Immigration Law Committee, which lobbies UK government and key stakeholders for change to UK immigration policy and process.