Siem Bierman

“Onno and I were discussing how we had approached the hospitality industry in such different ways – but one thing we agreed on was the need for Chinese hotels and restaurants to be put in contact with the right kinds of people – and by that I mean, talented professionals who have a genuine passion for what they do.”

Siem Bierman

Siem Bierman first came to China in 2004 during a successful placement with the J. W. Marriott Hotel chain in Shanghai. Returning to China in a more entrepreneurial role two years later, Siem used his experience to research the feasibility of opening an Asia Office for leading events organizers De Vries & Partners. Of Dutch-Indonesian descent and a speaker of 6 languages, Siem relished Shanghai’s international environment and dynamic business culture from the moment he arrived in China, and does so to this day.

Siem’s involvement in working with restaurants and hotels extends as far back as he can remember, from helping to prepare recipes for his family’s successful Indonesian catering company, to his time serving dinners at Restaurant Claudius in his hometown of Nijmegen.

“I am proud of those early experiences – they allowed me to get an inside view of the mechanics of how a restaurant works, to get to know people on all sides of the industry, and I believe this has laid strong foundations for my chosen career.”  

Graduating from the Hoge Hotelschool in Maastricht, Siem had already filled a number of key positions before completing his studies, working alongside the renowned Eric Swaghoven in the Michelin-Star Restaurant Valuas; as a Manager at the Hotel Les Charmes in Maastricht; and then on his placement at the J.W Marriott, Shanghai.
The challenge of life in Shanghai intrigued Siem, and while further offers inevitably came, he completed his Master’s Degree in International Hospitality Management at ESADE University in Barcelona, and then relocated to China in 2006.
 
During a successful period with De Vries & Partners, Siem continued to observe the ascending fortunes of Shanghai’s restaurants and hotels. With businesses flourishing throughout the city, he decided the time was right to take his experience of the hospitality sector and apply it in a more corporate role.

In 2007, Siem took up a supervisory position within the Occupier Services department of DTZ, the third largest Corporate Real Estate Services Firm in the world today. Siem’s experience and personal approach to client relations was vital in developing ties between DTZ and some of the premier hoteliers, Western banking institutions and multinational organizations currently operating in Shanghai. In this successful period, he was also commended for developing a more ‘service-minded’ approach to dealing with clients, one that helped DTZ gain significant rewards, most recently with the management contract for UK Pavilion at Expo Shanghai 2010.

It was around the same time that Siem began working with DTZ that he met Onno Schreurs, and from this first meeting, at a wine-tasting event at the Grand Hyatt on the Bund, the concept for Schreurs & Bierman was born.
If you would like to contact Siem Bierman directly, please send an email to siem@schreurs-bierman.com