AN Italian sports car distributor has just zoomed into the international concierge service business. Edward Tan, who is involved in distributing Ferrari and Maserati sports cars, is one of the three people behind Quintessentially Singapore.

The company is the Singapore arm of Quintessentially, the global members' club and concierge service. Launched in the UK in December 2000, Quintessentially prides itself on 'accessing the inaccessible'.

The group has offices in more than 40 cities to offer members exclusive access to travel suppliers, luxury products and services, special events, and benefits.

It was founded by Aaron Simpson, a former film producer, and Ben Elliot, the nephew of Camilla Parker Bowles, the Duchess of Cornwall.

Mr Simpson is the CEO and he will be paying the Singapore office a visit later this week. He has been quoted as saying: 'We basically offer a full service to the time-poor, cash-rich individual. We will do anything a member wants as long as it is within the law.'

To satisfy its members' every whim, it will secure coveted front-row seats at top concerts and shop for unusual presents, as well as book yachts and luxury holidays at the last minute.

Quintessentially Singapore, the local office, opened on Dec 1 last year. Apart from Mr Tan, who is well-versed in the luxury lifestyle needs of well- heeled individuals and will contribute his expertise in fine dining, travel and automotives, there are two other shareholders - Anastasia Ling and David Low.

Ms Ling, whose family has diverse regional businesses like banking, timber and mining, is Quintessentially Singapore's head of operations. Mr Low is an entrepreneur with a finance and accounting background.

Ms Ling says she wanted to start Quintessentially Singapore because she was dissatisfied with the current service and reach provided by local concierges.

She reveals that despite various local contenders vying for the Quintessentially franchise, the three friends won because the regional office in Hong Kong recognised that their 'profiles and expertise were in sync with Quintessentially's modus operandi'.

'We frequently help friends with their leisure and business requests both locally and internationally, and we recognised the need for a good concierge service for the time-starved individual,' she explains.

'So we decided to combine our strong local connections with the international brand and global network of Quintessentially to deliver the premiere access that the market demands.'

So far, the three partners have invested about $500,000 in the venture.

'There has never been a better time to offer such services in Singapore because most macro trends support it,' says Ms Ling, referring to the explosive growth in personal wealth.

'Singapore has the fastest-growing population of the rich in the region, with 67,000 millionaires in 2007, up 21 per cent from 2006.'

She adds that with Singapore's focus on private wealth management, the influx of private assets managed in Singapore has grown exponentially.

'Ten years ago, Singapore was managing $50 billion worth of private assets. Now, it manages in excess of $300 billion and is the second largest private banking hub after Switzerland. Even the number of mass affluent in Singapore has exceeded 400,000 individuals.'

Ms Ling says these two categories are often dominated by well-educated, well-travelled, lifestyle/ quality conscious time- starved individuals - 'the ideal profile for our services'.

There are two membership tiers. Dedicated members pay $7,500 a year and are assigned a personal account manager in their city of residence. Elite membership is by invitation only, for 'those VVIPs who expect white-gloved service'.

At $72,000 a year, the fee includes a team of personal account managers in all Quintessentially territories, on standby around the clock.

Just three months into the business, Ms Ling says she has had unusual requests like sourcing for a local supplier of African Grey Parrots, and locating a Singapore shop that a member's mother patronised eight years ago for world maps produced in Lapis gemstones.

She adds: 'With the upcoming inaugural F1 night race and two casinos on the way, it looks like it's going to be a busy few years for me and my team.'

This article was first published in The Business Times on Feb 27, 2008.