Building on solid ground

New horizon: Yeoh saw the opportunity to turn around an ailing business.

BACK in the early 2000s, the thought of running his family’s prefabricated container business did not really cross James Yeoh Chor Guan’s mind. The UK-educated mechanical engineer was, after all, working with one of the world’s largest consultancy firms in Singapore. The perks were good and so was the prestige.

Yeoh was eventually posted back to Malaysia, but with all the benefits of an expatriate. This ensured him a cushy position and a good career path to continue on.