In 1999, Hugh Hoyes-Cock took on the Asia Pacific market for O’Briens and became the Master Franchisee for Asia Pacific. A Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, the Englishman has lived and worked in Singapore for more than 20 years. He bought over the Master Franchise Rights for just 1 punt from Founder of O’Briens, Brody Sweeney. 

"I first heard about O’Briens in the late 1990s through my son Alex, who was studying Medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin at the time," said Hugh. "The Irish sandwich bar was Alex’s favorite haunt and he had read that the chain was looking for franchisees. I was interested, really interested. But the challenge was would it work in my home base, Singapore?

I carried out my own market survey, which convinced me that there was a niche opportunity for O’Briens in the Asian food and beverage industry. Following much persuasion that I could make it work here, I was awarded the master franchise for Asia in 1999."

Hugh has been rapidly proving that his research was spot on. As O’Briens CEO for Asia, and working from a Singapore base, his team have been busy expanding their Pan-Asian reach. O’Briens can now be found in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, China, Taiwan and United Arab Emirates.