Junyi Xiao (International Business, 2017) is the founder of W&W Trading and Consulting Ltd, an international trading consultancy and service company headquartered in Nottingham.

Junyi

Since graduating in 2017, Junyi Xiao has seen her business grow from an initial idea into a multinational venture, employing 18 staff and providing logistics management services for several large clients based around the world. With offices in Nottingham and Shenzhen, and a Singapore branch on the horizon, Junyi has been able to put her International Business degree into practice from the start.

“My learning experience at Nottingham was really wonderful”, she said. “I had a lot of great professors – my tutor, Tim Bailey (Industrial Economics), I always spoke with him about my future and the changing world. Also Professor [Chenqi] Wang, one of the top researchers in the world for emerging markets, was really amazing. He gave me a lot of inspiration and ideas about how to develop my career.”

Junyi has made the most of her connection to the University of Nottingham since graduating, benefitting from the practical support and community of likeminded entrepreneurs at the Ingenuity Lab, as well as utilising the university’s student intern scheme, and volunteering as a project sponsor on the MSc Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Management.

I really enjoy this feeling of connection to the university. At the start of setting up my business I got a lot of inspiration from other Ingenuity Lab members. And now as a fast growing team, we can give opportunities to the next generation through the internships and entrepreneurship students projects. It’s a mutual process - we also discover a lot of talent from these projects.
Junyi Xiao

2023 has been a year of growth for the company. In February, W&W expanded their operations in China, opening a new office in Shenzhen after receiving a second round of investment, and in October, the Nottingham team moved to a new office at the University’s Innovation Park (UNIP), having outgrown their base at the Ingenuity Lab.

This summer was spent working with new partners giffgaff and UberEats to deliver a Welcome Pack project for over 20,000 international students at universities across the UK. The packs serve a dual purpose: connecting W&W’s partner brands with the international student market, and ensuring a warm welcome for students arriving in the UK, something close to the team’s hearts.

“Comprised mostly of international alumni, we once embarked on their own journeys to study in the UK - now as we witness students from around the world arriving in the UK, we resonate deeply. We were once in their shoes, often yearning for home during holidays. This experience of studying and living in the UK inspired us to initiate this project, with the hope of extending support to future international students.”

This is emblematic of the ethos that underpins Junyi’s business: connecting people, places and markets. As the Business School celebrates its 25th anniversary by looking to the next quarter century, Junyi is looking to the future as well.

“Breaking through more international barriers, that's the true meaning of international business. In the past two years, the world changed a lot - due to war, trading wars, the pandemic. So I think the true meaning, and the whole life purpose for international traders or businesspeople, is to bring the world together to break through these barriers. That's my purpose.” 

NUBS 25th Anniversary Events

If you're interested in meeting fellow business leaders and entrepreneurs from our alumni community, join us at our global event series throughout the academic year celebrating 25 years of the Business School. 

Find your nearest event at nott.ac/alumni-events