David & Sandy Yip Interview, Wing Yip Store, 24 June 2025

The Yip Family Story

About the family

In July 2025 David Yip, the youngest son of the founder of the Wing Yip superstore empire, and his wife Sandy talked to us about the development of the Wing Yip Superstore in Cricklewood and shared stories and pictures from their archive for this project.

David is the youngest son of Wing Woon Yip, the founder of the Wing Yip empire and is one of four siblings. The older three are Albert, Brian and Cindy. They grew up in Birmingham, almost in parallel with the growing business empire, with the eldest Albert born in 1974 and David born in 1979.

Althought they grew up in Birmingham and had a very British education, Wing Woon Yip, his father, ensured that all the children learned Chinese and experienced Chinese culture.

David remembers visiting the village his father came from when he was 10 years old and recalls it being a challenging trip where everything seemed strange - very different from his Birmingham home. There is a picture in the Wing Yip Cricklewood office of the siblings on this visit.

David met his wife Sandy in 2004 when his father sent him to study Mandarin in China. Sandy recalls they had quite different approaches to learning - she took it far more seriously!

Origins of the family

David explained that the family originated in Guangdong province in southern China. His father Wing Woon Yip came to the UK in 1959 by boat with very little - and started working in a Chinese restaurant in Hull - but within two years he opened his own restaurant in Clacton on Sea, and soon after that he opened three further restaurants and two takeaways in East Anglia.

The older video interview with Woon Wing Yip below (right) shares more details about his early days in England.

Early days for the shop

The idea to open a Chinese grocery store in Birmingham was hugely entrepreneurial - it had never been done before.

With growing Chinese immigration through the 1960s the number of Chinese restaurants across the UK increased exponentially, which meant that there was a market for imported goods from China and a need for a ‘one stop shop’ for wholesale products for the restaurants.

The location of the store in the very heart of the country meant it was accessible for Chinese restaurant owners from north, south, east and west.

The first Wing Yip store opened in 1970 in Digbeth Birmingham, under the railway arches, and was the first specialist Chinese grocery shop in the UK. David remembers working with his siblings in the shop after school from his early childhood.

Since then, the family - led by David’s father - expanded the business year on year, with stores opening in Manchester, Croydon and Cricklewood.

The store in Cricklewood opened in 1988.

The Cricklewood Superstore

David explained that the site for the Cricklewood store was chosen for its location, being only a few miles from central London and right at the start of the northbound M1 motorway. This location meant it was easily accessible from Birmingham to deliver goods from the Midlands depot - but also easy for customers from all over the South East to reach.

The store opened in July 1988 with a colourful blimp in the sky to guide new customers to the store. David remembers the day of the opening event well. He recalls an bright sunny day with everyone excited about the brightly coloured blimp floating overhead (see photo below).

Later in 2005 the Cricklewood site revamped and expanded further with a new ‘pagoda style’ building opening on the site as a business centre. David worked at the store for five years.

What is the future for Wing Yip?

With his father growing older, his older brothers, Albert and Brian, have taken the reigns in the business and both Sandy and David are involved in the charitable work of the Wing Yip Foundation.

The customer base for the stores is increasingly diverse in North London with new customers with roots in every part of Asia - from India to Japan. Korean food products are very fashionable these days but David points out that trends do come and go, so it doesn’t always make sense to stock up on the latest trends.

Around 400,000 people arrived in the UK from Hong Kong in recent years and have revived more Chinese traditions and cuisine. The Hong Kong community is a very strong one, with very specific needs (for example, seafood is very important to them). The Hong Kong community is also a more wealthy group of immigrants than the generation that came from China previously.

David and Sandy are mindful of the needs of their ageing parents. The founders of the Wing Yip empire are now quite elderly and it is very much up to the next generation to decide on the future direction for the business.

Rachel’s Memories of Wing Yip

I am New Zealand born Chinese and moved to London in the mid 1990s. Afrer living in South London for a couple of years I moved to Finchley Road, then Kilburn and now Willesden. At this time I started to shop at Wing Yip and eat at the Reindeer cafe.

Because of my Chinese heritage I felt like I was ‘home’ when I visited the store, seeing familiar products and familiar faces, even though I didn’t know anyone there.

I discovered groceries that reminded me of my childhood:
- haw flakes/dried haw in a circular shape with thin paper packaging
- dried shrimp
- big boxes of noodles and sacks of rice
- cheung fan
- char siu bau
- soup spoons
- hongbao/red packets/envelopes for giving money.

I had lovely memories of making won tons with my mum, and when I found the won ton skins at Wing Yip I began making them with my kids and they now have similar warm associations.

On Chinese new Year I would go for lunch in the cafe or the restaurant, and there would always be a dragon dance and then the owner would give hongbao to the children with £2. I always thought this was so kind of the owner and very generous as there were many children eating with their parents.

Over the years I have taken groups of friends there for Chinese New Year. Once we were given a big room at the back of the restaurant and enjoyed a huge feast. Of course, we over-ordered and had stacks of steam baskets so high we couldn’t see who was across the table!

The Reindeer cafe has been a favourite restaurant. I always took my kids when they were very small with friends, and enjoyed a quick meal after doing our grocery shopping.

It’s the single restaurant we have frequented the most in London and is our favourite choice for all our birthday meals. Favourite dishes include: won ton soup, seafood hofan, and especially their roasted meats on rice, soy chicken, char siu pork, belly pork.

It is all delicious, a genuine taste of home: comfort food.

Beansprouts!

Originally beansprouts were grown at home but now two suppliers - one in Lancashire and one in Bristol - grow all the beansprouts for all the stores in the UK. This is one vegetable that is never imported as the shelf life is so short. Other vegetables are imported from Europe or further afield.

A Short Video About Woon Wing Yip, The Founder of Wing Yip

A 2010 interview with Woon Wing Yip OBE, Mr Sammy Yap and Henry Yap. This is an extract from the original - go to www.ming-ai.org.uk/chineseworkforce for more information.