Hoo Hing: London’s largest Chinese supermarket defies sterling slump to return to profit
London’s biggest Chinese grocery group has returned to profit, despite being hit by a weaker pound and falling revenue.
Dagenham-based Hoo Hing Holdings was founded in the 1970s and has superstores in Mitcham, Milton Keynes and Park Royal. It posted a small pre-tax profit of £167,559 for the 12 months to the end of June 2025, reversing a pre-tax loss of £307,580 the previous year.
Selling everything from fresh lobsters to hot pot sauce kits, Hoo Hing is both a retailer and a wholesaler. Revenue was £71.6m for the year, a drop of 1.1 per cent on 2024.
“Margin was maintained despite the continuing impact of a weak sterling currency impact on raw materials for the year under review,” the retailer said.
Accounts filed with Companies House show a 6.6 per cent reduction in administrative expenses which helped Hoo Hing back into the red. It cut the size of its workforce by around 20 staff to 185.
Its bank interest more than doubled to £183,574, also bolstering its margins.
Headquartered at Hoo Hing House in Essex, the firm is owned by the Poon family, having been founded by 84-year-old Tim Fuk Poon.
Hoo Hing faces greater competition amid more demand for Chinese groceries
The company has faced increased competition in recent years amid a surge in the number of Asian supermarkets springing up across the capital, as Londoners expand their culinary horizons.
Chinese food expert Fuschia Dunlop told the Grocer the growing number of sites is linked to the rise in the number of Asians living and studying in the UK.
“There’s now a huge number of Chinese students in the UK compared to before, and they’ve brought with them their passions and desires from mainland China,” she said.
“And quite a lot of them are fairly well off and sophisticated…[leading to more stores] which are much trendier and reflect contemporary young tastes.”
Data from the Office for National Statistics shows China is responsible for the second-largest cohort of students coming to the UK from overseas, with 52,000 Chinese students arriving in the year to the end of June 2025.
In addition, more than 180,000 people have moved to the UK from Hong Kong in the five years since the British National (Overseas) visa scheme was put in place, with the lion’s share moving to London.