When the British Business Association of Macao was founded in 2006, the city stood on the cusp of a tourism boom, with a pipeline of world-class integrated resorts poised to transform its economy and skyline.
Two decades on, the organisation – rebranded in 2019 as the British Chamber of Commerce in Macao (BritCham Macao) – now marks its 20th anniversary as the city reaches another crossroads.
Today, Macao is shifting focus, diversifying beyond tourism and entertainment to foster emerging industries ranging from modern financial services and healthcare to advanced technology.
Amid that transformation, one constant has been the confidence that Eileen Stow, a founding member and now chair of BritCham Macao, places in the city. “I have huge faith in Macao, and it hasn’t changed,” she says in an interview with Macao Magazine.
Under her leadership, the chamber is strengthening commercial ties between Macao and the United Kingdom in sectors spanning tourism, integrated resorts, construction and green technology, while exploring opportunities arising from regional initiatives such as the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
According to Ms Stow, British businesses have established a presence across a diverse range of industries in Macao over the years, from food and beverage to education and healthcare. “Fashion brands, green technology and construction also remain strong sectors for British businesses entering Macao,” she stated.
Her family’s food and beverage business, Lord Stow’s Bakery, is one of the most recognisable examples of British entrepreneurship in the city. Founded by her late brother, Andrew Stow, in 1989, the company rode Macao’s tourism boom to become a household name among residents and visitors from the Chinese mainland and beyond. Its signature product – an interpretation of the Portuguese custard tart, or pastel de nata – has become closely associated with Macao’s culinary identity.
Two-way exchange
The exchange is not solely one-way. Ms Stow pointed to a Macao construction company and BritCham Macao member that has participated in development projects in the U.K., creating local jobs and building a successful presence in the British market.
Among the areas with the greatest potential for deeper U.K.-Macao collaboration, Ms Stow singled out the green economy, which encompasses activities and technologies that reduce environmental impact through renewable energy, energy efficiency and more sustainable business practices. The sector offers considerable scope for cooperation given China’s targets of peaking carbon emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060.
“Green is the new gold,” she remarked. “We’re eager to bring in more expertise from the U.K. and share it here.”
Total trade in goods and services between Macao and the U.K. reached 295 million British pounds (3.22 billion patacas) in the 12 months to the end of the first quarter of 2026, an increase of 9.3 percent from the prior-year period, according to data from the U.K. Department for Business & Trade.
The stock of U.K. foreign direct investment in Macao stood at 90 million British pounds at the end of 2024, an increase of 50 percent from a year earlier, while Macao’s direct investment stock in the U.K. doubled to 2 million British pounds, showed the data.
Speaking at an event marking BritCham Macao’s 20th anniversary in July, Sarah Robinson, British Deputy Consul-General in Hong Kong and Macao, said she expected bilateral cooperation to continue going “from strength to strength”.
From Macao to the Greater Bay Area
Strengthening this bilateral cooperation remains central to BritCham Macao’s mission. Its membership has remained steady at about 80, encompassing large corporations, small- and medium-sized enterprises and individuals.
“One of the main purposes of BritCham is really about community, and that is something you cannot stress enough,” Ms Stow said. “There’s an old saying that birds of a feather flock together. People like being able to talk in their own language.”
The chamber also gives members a forum in which to exchange practical advice and tap into one another’s networks, she added.
“It’s about meeting people, sharing your experiences and discussing your problems,” Ms Stow explained. “Someone may be able to offer a solution because they have a contact who can help.”
Over the past two decades, BritCham Macao has organised annual balls, business luncheons, seminars and networking events to connect members and deepen their understanding of Macao and the Chinese mainland. More recently, the chamber has turned its attention to the Greater Bay Area.
Since 2025, it has organised visits to cities in Guangdong province to give members first-hand exposure to local business environments and potential investment opportunities. The trips also enable them to meet government officials, business leaders and other stakeholders, she noted.
The programme has so far covered four of the nine mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area: Huizhou, Zhaoqing, Jiangmen and Dongguan.
“Everyone has been talking about the Greater Bay Area, so we thought, ‘Let’s take some action’,” Ms Stow said. “The visits also allow us to see things to which we would not normally have access.”
She was particularly struck by the efficiency of businesses in the region and the scale and quality of its infrastructure, including its roads, bridges and transport links. The visits have also helped forge closer ties and laid the groundwork for future cooperation between BritCham Macao members and their counterparts in Guangdong.
Delegations from Huizhou and Jiangmen subsequently visited Macao, giving chamber representatives an opportunity to reconnect with them and build on the relationships established during the earlier visits.
Giving back to the community
BritCham Macao’s annual charity ball is a highlight of its events calendar. Part of the proceeds supports the chamber’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes, including fellowships and financial assistance for Macao students pursuing academic opportunities and exchanges in the U.K.
Past beneficiaries include a Macao student who completed a master’s degree at Imperial College London and now works as a bioinformatician at the University of Cambridge.
The chamber has undertaken corporate social responsibility projects since 2009 and intends to continue doing so, Ms Stow added. “It is about giving back to the community from which we have all benefited.”
BritCham Macao is also working with local stakeholders to identify new commercial opportunities. A media company recently launched Access Macao, an initiative designed to connect international companies seeking to enter the Macao market with local hotel and integrated resort operators investing in entertainment, events, tourism, technology and wellness.
Ms Stow said the chamber was exploring how British companies could contribute their expertise to Macao’s integrated tourism and resort ecosystem through initiatives of this kind.
Having first arrived in Macao more than 33 years ago, Ms Stow has witnessed the city’s evolution into an international tourism hub and the emergence of its large-scale integrated resorts.
Beyond these changes, one of the developments that has impressed her most is the improvement in government efficiency, particularly since Macao’s return to Chinese administration in 1999. With the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) Government pledging to further streamline paperwork and simplify licensing procedures across different industries, she believes continued progress in this area could strengthen the business environment, particularly for overseas companies.
Spreading the word
Tourism remains a vital part of Macao’s economy even as the city pursues diversification. Under the Third Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development of the MSAR (2026–2030), the Government is targeting average annual growth of 5 percent in international visitor arrivals.
Ms Stow believes Macao’s distinctive history and identity, reflected in its World Heritage sites, could help attract more long-haul visitors, including those from Britain. Yet she argues that the city remains relatively little known across much of Europe.
“I don’t think Macao receives the recognition it deserves among many Europeans,” she said. “While it is well known in places such as Lisbon, it is often overshadowed in other [European cities] by Hong Kong, Singapore and other destinations.”
Macao received nearly 24.49 million visitors in the first seven months of 2026, an increase of 8.0 percent year-on-year, according to data from the city’s statistics bureau. International arrivals rose by 5.1 percent to 1.60 million, representing 6.5 percent of the total. Meanwhile, U.K. arrivals grew by 3.1 percent to 24,686 during the same seven-month period, following an 8.7 percent increase to 42,211 for the full year of 2025.
Looking ahead, Ms Stow said BritCham Macao would continue to serve its members and facilitate exchanges between Macao and the U.K. At the same time, it plans to offer more affordable events designed to appeal to a younger generation. These could include smaller gatherings at which members meet over coffee and learn together, rather than relying solely on cocktail receptions, seminars and wine-fuelled networking events.
“I think people tend to recognise the value of chambers only when they are more established in business, perhaps around the age of 28 or 30,” she noted. “Few people in their early 20s may see the benefits of joining a business chamber.”
It is a lesson she wishes she had learnt earlier. “I wish I had understood those benefits when I was young,” Ms Stow stated.
