If you’ve ever seen a major booth or exhibition at a shopping mall, theme park or event, chances are it was put together by Lawrence Chia Song Huat and his team at Pico Far East.

Pico builds the booths and stands found at major exhibitions. It also makes the signs that companies such as McDonald’s, KFC and HSBC put on their buildings.

It’s not glamorous, but it makes money – the firm generated 2011 net profits of HK$ 248 million on HK$ 3.5 billion of revenue. Pico is publicly listed, with offices in 24 countries.