Amanda Dunn had lived in the Hague for several years when Thomas Green's gave her the opportunity to use her retail experience and start her own business overseas.

The trouble was, it was already September and she knew that being ready for Christmas was vital in giving the business a good start. "There is no way we could have been ready without Thomas Green's," Amanda says. "They had the plan ready to go, they had all the negotiated rates with suppliers and they were able to help us put all the systems in place."

Understanding the need for speed, the Thomas Green team moved quickly. It took only 8 weeks from "first plan" to the opening in late November.

"What you have to remember is that there is an enormous difference between the skill sets needed to run a shop and those needed to get one opened. The Thomas Green guys were brilliant - not only with layout advice, but also with basic planning, merchandising plans and branding but also in being prepared to roll up their sleeves and help. It makes a huge difference at start-up knowing there is a team out there really dedicated to making your business a success. It really gave me and my team confidence. The web store was absolutely the icing on the cake. Expatriates live on the internet, and I never dreamed that I would be able to get my own site up and running in the same time scale as opening the shop. Obviously, it will be differerent in different areas with different demographics, but we think it enhances service offering."

And what about the brand?

"Honestly, I love "Thomas Green's". I have seen so many expat formats (mainly cheap and cheerful) but I think the Thomas Green's promise of "best of British" really seems to work. Not only does the brand instantly connect with the British here but it also seems to intrigue the locals. I always thought "expat" led stores only alienated the locals - Thomas is great because he seems to widen the offering so much more."

So could you have done this yourself?

"I would like to think so. But it would probably have taken me three times as long. I would never have been ready for Christmas, that's for sure. But the real difference is qualitative; I would have done many more things badly (like the branding / the product planning / the EPOS). And that could have really damaged the business. You have to get these things right from the start."

Thomas Green's in the Hague was profitable from Week One.

See Amanda's shop online, with the wide range of British and locally sourced food.