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 2021, Yuzu Limited (contracting and flexible outsourcing talent) and Star Anise Leadership & Training (SALT).

In addition, Chris 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. As a strong supporter of his alma maters, Chris is the current Chairman of the Exeter Hong Kong Alumni group, the official Hong Kong chapter of the University of Exeter alumni network. He was also Chris is the official Ambassador for the Hong Kong Alumni chapter of Nottingham Trent University (which incorporates Nottingham Law School) from 2014-2021.

In his spare time, Chris is a semi-professional photographer, a keen cook, footballer, traveller and cultural explorer, and a life-long Liverpool FC fan.

Allan joined Star Anise in 2023 as a Recruitment Consultant. He graduated from the University of New South Wales, Australia with a double major in English & Media, Culture and Technology. He comes from an international background with roots in the Philippines & New Zealand and a home base in Hong Kong. 

Before joining Star Anise, he spent 15 years at a top tier education technology company. He oversaw the recruitment, training, performance, and development of all staff in both local and international offices and specialised in event and content creation as well as business management. With that experience, he has gained a combination of skills which enable him to help match legal talent with opportunity, from in-house counsel to law firm partners, associates, and legal support staff.

In his spare time, Allan is a keen home chef & baker. He enjoys playing & watching basketball, rugby, golf, travelling and exploring emerging technologies.
 

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.