Jiraorn decided to open Kinderprep by Ivy Bound because parents were always seeking her advice on how to get their children ready for nursery school.

At the new prep centre, located at CentralPlaza Chaengwattana, kids aged six to 12 months and their parents will be taught “baby sign language”.

The programme is aimed at teaching how babies communicate with their parents, and how to understand them in order to reduce frustration in the tiny tots, she explained. “Children are very happy when their parents understand exactly what they want,” she said.

The programme uses American Sign Language to teach both parents and their kids, and parents who join the course practise with their offspring at home. “This method will help the kids to communicate early [in their lives] and clearly,” she said.

Another course – called “school readiness” – is designed for young children aged from 18 months, and aims at preparing them for kindergarten and avoiding separation anxiety.

Jiraorn first dreamed of opening a perfect school when she was a teenager, so she decided to study psychology and education at university. She received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Yale University, and two master’s degrees in education from Harvard and Stanford in the US.

With the knowledge and experience gained from studying abroad, Jiraorn at the age of 29 opened her first school – Ivy Bound – on 3.5 rai (5,600 square metres) of land in Sukhumvit Soi 39.

She designed her own courses, which she calls Inno-Education, for the institution, which caters to children between the ages of two and five.

“We need to start at school if we want to raise children to become good people. School is the first place in society to nurture attitudes towards life for kids,” the 38-year-old educator said.

Her Inno-Education is not an educational system or curriculum as such, but a concept for bringing together a body of knowledge, research and experience to develop and apply to the learning culture of children, teachers and parents, she said.

The curriculum is focused on a holistic model of learning, composed of learning how to live in society, how to balance emotional development, and cognitive learning or the development of thoughts or know-how to analyse, adapt and think outside the box, she said.

Jiraorn realised that the Thai educational system did not provide much opportunity for assertiveness in children, which was different from the situation in foreign schools. Hence, at her school, a public-speaking course is designed to empower children to be confident in speaking. In addition, her course stresses fostering curiosity in children, as she believes that life-long learning will follow as a result.

With Asean nations having started full implementation of the Asean Economic Community at the beginning of this year, Jiraorn is concerned over the potential for rapid growth of international schools in the region.

She said businesspeople might take advantage of the AEC to open international schools merely for business purposes. They often hire foreign teachers to teach children and design the curriculum, she added.

“What will happen to our children? They will be blended by foreign culture, and ‘Thainess’ will gradually disappear,” warned Jiraorn, who calls herself an educator but not a businesswoman. She suggested that anyone interested in opening an international school should not think like a businessperson but as an educator, and should add Thai culture to their curriculum.

“My second priority will be to continue growing our people and ensure we are doing business in a sustainable way. We want to make sure L’Oreal Thailand is the best place to work for all employees and grow our business in a manner that will have a positive impact on both society and the environment,” she said.

L’Oreal Thailand has 21 brands, ranging from mass market brands to luxury, offering consumers a wide range of beauty products and price points. Last year alone, it sold 87 million product items across all categories.

L’Oreal (Thailand) Co, a subsidiary of the world’s leading beauty company, has announced impressive 2015 performance, especially in the facial skincare segment, the largest in the Thai beauty market, as well as accelerated growth in the makeup sector.

L’Oreal’s business is ranked No 1 in the Asean countries where it operates.

The value of Thailand’s skincare market last year was estimated at Bt26 billion, up 5 per cent over 2014. Facial skincare accounted for 68 per cent of the market, with makeup, which posted the fastest growth of 6.5 per cent, valued at about Bt14 billion.

Outgoing managing director Umesh Phadke said L’Oreal Thailand had performed strongly performance and remained the fastest-growing beauty company in the country.

“Our leadership in the highly competitive facial-skincare market, our fast growth in the makeup market, and our adherence to the very highest standards of trust and innovation in our operations [are] at the heart of this great achievement for our company. I would like to thank every L’Oreal employee for their contribution to this great success,” he said.

In order to accelerate further in 2016, the company will focus on five key areas: introducing new brands, strong product innovation, effective communication, both online and offline, expanded distribution channels and increased concentration on sustainability.

Digital innovation will also be key strategy for L’Oreal Thailand in a highly mobile and connected market. Thailand has nearly 82 million mobile connections, and more than 37 million people useFacebook every month.

Average social-media use is almost three hours a day.

“We are focusing more on digital media, and have invested 130 per cent more in digital media compared [with] last year. Our Garnier Sakura White campaign with ‘selfie sticks’ used as a means of relating to Thai consumers who love taking selfies had almost 3 million views on YouTube and was recognised as the best campaign worldwide,” Phadke said.

E-commerce is another growing trend, with overall Internet retail increasing by 30 per cent in 2015 to Bt47 billion in total value, according to Euromonitor. DHL reports that the Thai e-commerce market is growing rapidly, and is expected to more than triple in size to Bt138 billion by 2020.

“Thai people aspire to beauty,” Phadke said. “It is a consistent part of Thai life, and this can be seen prominently in the culture, arts, architecture, and the way one expresses oneself here.

“The Thai quest for beauty has facilitated the growth of the Thai beauty market, and fills the future with great opportunity. With exciting new brands, strong product innovations, innovative digital communications, e-commerce growth and high-quality in-store services and experiences, we are confident that we will take our place at the top of the makeup market in the near future, while continuing our strong leadership of the facial-skincare market.”

The company says Nathalie Gerschtein Keraudy has strong understanding of the Thai beauty market, with three years of success in the country’s business results.

Phakde will move to a new role as country manager of L’Oreal Indonesia.

Traditionally, the team was focused more on the UK and European market.

“The English Premier League is growing and growing all over the world, especially in Asia and America,” Kenyon said.

With strong growth in the number of people watching the English Premier League, there are lots of opportunities for the football club to attract commercial partners and also develop its fan base in potential markets around the world, he said.

“The English Premier League is a fantastic platform and creates lots of visibility. It gives prominence to the brand,” he added

Sam Lucas, head of partnerships at Everton FC, said Europe now represented approximately 40 per cent of the English Premier League’s global viewers. English football matches are broadcast to 255 countries around the world.

“We have seen big growth in China and the US this season. In China alone, the number of viewers who watch Everton has surged dramatically, from only 200,000 viewers last season to over 2 million this season,” he said. In China, the English Premier League is broadcast via free-to-air channel CCTV5, allowing viewers more access to the matches while in the US the EPL is broadcast via NBC.

Chang Beer has been the principal shirt sponsor for Everton FC since July 2004, and Kenyon said both parties were in discussions about renewing the sponsorship contract, which expires next year.

“Chang Beer is the brand with the longest partnership not only for Everton FC, but also in the English Premier League. The 12-year partnership started in 2004. It is longer than the average sponsorship in the English Premier League, which I would say is usually between two and five years,” he explained.

Lucas said the club currently had eight major sponsors divided into different categories, as well as five supply partners.

In addition to Chang, the club’s other sponsors include Umbro for sportswear, Kitbag for exclusive retailer, Dafabet for global betting, and Avon for tyres.

Edmond Neo Kim Soon, chief executive officer of Chang International, said the brewer would launch its new Chang Classic beer in green bottles in the UK next month to mark the twelve anniversary of ties with the EPL club.

Chang Classic was first launched in Bangkok in August last year.

Lucas added that photo shoots with several star Everton players – Seamus Coleman, James McCarthy, Romelu Lukaku and Joel Robles – would go out on social media in line with Chang Classic’s launch in the UK and Europe.

“The English Premier League is a global property. It creates opportunity for the Chang brand to grow beyond Thailand to other international markets, and enhance awareness of the brand in many potential markets, such as Vietnam, Singapore, Cambodia and Myanmar, where football is a popular sport,” Soon said.

“In order to grow your brand, awareness is quite important. The partnership with Everton FC will support our growth engine to achieve our 2020 vision to be a beverage leader in Asean,” he added.

The CEO said the company currently exported Chang Beer to more than 30 countries around the world, including all Asean markets.

Fraser and Neave distributes Chang Beer only in Singapore, while sales in other countries in the region are the responsibility of local distributors. “The partnership between Chang Beer and Everton FC is more than commercial, but a long-term relationship,” he said.

Chang Beer was the first Thai or Asian brand to enter a sponsorship deal in the English Premier League.

Kenyon affirmed that the sponsorship deal with Chang was not just a commercial thing, but a long-term partnership. Both partners have been involved in many initiatives and social activities together in order to give something back to society, such as football coaching to enhance skills for Thais.

Everton-Chang Village is a good example of a deeper partnership created about 10 years ago by building homes for people on the Khao Lak coast in Phang Nga.

Consisting of 50 houses and a football field, it was built following the devastating 2004 tsunami that struck the area and destroyed the village of Ban Naan Khem.