MEET OUR TEAM

Annie commenced her professional career as a qualified Hong Kong lawyer.  She graduated from the University of Lancaster with a BA Honours in English.  Subsequently, Annie embarked on legal studies and studied the Legal Practice Course at the College of Law, York and a legal career ensued in 1995 after she relocated to Hong Kong.  She trained with an international UK law firm in Hong Kong and qualified in 1997 and practised for a number of years in dispute resolution with international law firms before switching careers into legal recruitment in 2005.  In 2010, Annie co-founded Star Anise with her brother, Chris, and in 2021, Star Anise Leaderership & Training (SALT) and Yuzu contracting and flexible outsourcing services for lawyers and other professional talent.

Annie enjoys travelling, trying international cuisine with friends and family, exploring and appreciating outdoor nature (when it’s not too hot!) and watching performing arts. Get to know Annie more by reading our interview with her! 

Chris qualified as a solicitor of England & Wales. He read Law at the University of Exeter, England (part of the Russell Group of Universities in the UK) and subsequently studied his Legal Practice Course (LPC) at Nottingham Law School in England. After training with a top 20 UK law firm he specialised in Corporate M&A and private equity law, becoming a director (Of Counsel) in the corporate team of a major national law firm.  He was actively involved in the recruitment, training and development of legal staff in his firm (including acting as trainee supervisor). Following a move to Hong Kong he co-founded Star Anise with his business partner and sister, Annie, and in recent years, Yuzu Limited (contracting and flexible outsourcing talent) and Star Anise Leadership & Training (SALT).

He is actively involved in various voluntary activities including Project WeCan where Star Anise partners up with a local secondary school in Hong Kong to provide support in helping students develop their English language skills and help them enhance their job prospects after leaving school. In addition, Chris is the Chairman of the Hong Kong chapter of the University of Exeter alumni. 

A father to two active young children, Chris is a keen street and portrait photographer, enjoys cooking, playing sports, hiking, travelling, and has a life-long devotion to Liverpool FC.

Shelley Xie is the Principal of Zen Legal Talent, Star Anise’s strategic alliance partner in Shanghai. With over twenty years of experience, she specialises in senior-level searches across Greater China for prestigious international and local law firms, as well as for leading global corporations in the consumer, manufacturing, and technology sectors. Shelley also provides advisory services for legal mergers, acquisitions, and alliances.

Her expertise is underpinned by a deep, practical understanding of the legal markets in Greater China, Singapore, and the United States. Shelley holds an LL.B. degree from Fudan University and is fluent in both Chinese Mandarin and English.

Swati joined Star Anise in 2022 and leads our research and candidate management function. She mainly conducts market research and provides intelligence, data, and business support as well as recruitment for both Star Anise and Yuzu. She also assists the team in the digital marketing of SALT, the leadership training services provided by Star Anise. A post-graduate in Business Economics, she worked for various multinational companies in India as a part of their Market Research and Competitive Intelligence teams.

Before joining Star Anise, Swati worked with companies like Tata Consultancy Services, Aon Consulting, and most recently with Cognizant Technology Solutions in India, where she was a part of the Digital Business Operations team. Throughout her career as a Market Researcher, Swati has worked on projects related to industry research, competitive benchmarking, risk analysis, strategy reports building, company analysis, market trend analysis, and ESG Research. Swati is a trained Indian Classical dancer and is passionate about dancing, yoga, and traveling.