A lone aeroplane engine stands centre stage covered in plastic and
waiting to be unwrapped.
Workers around it are setting up
a podium and re-painting the stage wall just the right shade of blue, in
readiness for a royal visit.
This is the $562m (£350m)
Rolls-Royce aeronautical production facility which opened earlier this year in
Singapore, and the engine, a Trent 900 Aero, is destined for an Airbus A380
plane.
On Wednesday, its plastic covers
will be unwrapped as the engine is unveiled by Prince William, who is in town
with his wife Catherine on a tour of Singapore, Malaysia and the Solomon
Islands.
Jonathan Asherson, the head of
Rolls-Royce's South East Asian operations, says their visit will bring a number
of benefits.
"The tangible benefits to
the visit will include things like the buzz that the employees will feel, and
the partnership between Singapore and the UK," he tells the BBC.
"The Duke and Duchess will
be launching the first production engine and the first production fan blades
from this facility.
"Intangible benefits are
things like the coverage we get, those benefits are going to be for our own
internal buzz, but we're hoping our customers will notice this as well,"
he adds.
Flower power
The Duke and Duchess are touring
the region to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.
According to the British High
Commission in Singapore, the visit to the city was included in their trip as
it's seen as an important trading partner of the United Kingdom.
They will be meeting key
Singapore and British business leaders during their trip.
Some $40bn is invested in
Singapore by UK businesses while the UK attracts two-thirds of Singapore's
foreign direct investment into Europe.
One of the first stops on their
tour saw them visiting the nation's Orchid Gardens on Tuesday where they had an
orchid named after them.
The gardens, set within the
larger botanical gardens, charge for entry and are 70% self-funded.
They have been naming hybrid
orchids, created by their horticulturists, after famous people since 1957.
According to Nigel Taylor the
director of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, there is almost always an uptick in
visitors after an orchid is named after a well known person.
"There's clearly a marketing
effect that benefits Singapore and the gardens," he says.
"There's also a more
immediate local effect, for some of the locals who haven't visited the orchid
gardens for a while, they may be reminded that it exists and that it's an
opportunity they shouldn't miss out on.
"When someone like the Duke
and Duchess come to visit, which is something that happens very rarely... the
quid pro quo is definitely the publicity we get."
Brand effect
The British monarchy is a very
valuable brand.
One study published before the
Queen's jubilee celebrations in June, found that this value amounted to $70bn.
But more than half of that is
intangible. Rather than creating value by producing goods, the monarchy's brand
value lies in association.
Samir Dixit from Brand Finance
who carried out the research, says the British monarchy is the world's second
most valuable brand after Apple, with Apple valued just slightly higher at
$70.6bn.
The firm has measured the value
of the Royal Family in part by looking at companies who have been issued Royal
warrants and coats of arms.
Royal warrants have been issued
for centuries for goods or services that are supplied to the sovereign or to a
member of the royal family.
These, according to Brand
Finance, have made those brands associated to the Royal Family more successful.
Local interest
And it is this brand value that
some local firms are keen to cash in on.
Art Trove, a Singapore art gallery
is celebrating the Queen's jubilee by selling lithographs of watercolour
paintings by Prince Charles and other art pieces as well as photographs of the
Royal Family.
These include pictures of Prince
William as a child with his late mother, Princess Diana.
We have seen keen interest from
our guests and members of the public, with reservations coming in steadily for
the British Arts Celebration culinary showcases”
Also on offer is a $200,000
diamond encrusted gold medallion made by the East India Company for the Queen's
jubilee. The gallery says it has already sold its other silver version worth
$40,000 to an Asian collector.
The entire collection for sale is
worth nearly one million dollars.
Sharon Tay, a consultant at the
gallery, thinks that interest in the exhibition, which has been running since
last month, will pick up with the Duke and Duchess' visit to Singapore.
The St. Regis in Singapore, part
of the US Starwood chain of hotels, is also hoping the visit will help push
sales for their themed dinners and activities.
The hotel has planned a month
long tribute to British culture and the arts which includes hiring a Michelin
starred Welsh chef to cook $200 per head meals and a tie up with the Royal
Academy of Arts with an exhibition by British artist Paul Huxley.
Cheryl Ong, the hotel's director
of sales and marketing, says that even though the events were not planned to
coincide with the Royal trip, it was "very serendipitous timing".
"We have seen keen interest
from our guests and members of the public, with reservations coming in steadily
for the British Arts Celebration culinary showcases," she adds.
For local and multinational
companies alike, the consensus is that even though they might not see an
immediate pick-up in business during the short visit of the Duke and Duchess of
Cambridge, the effects of it will be evident in higher sales after they leave.
Then it won't just be the
monarchy having a diamond year.
Sharanjit Leyl
Business & Investment Opportunities
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