The year was 2008, and many Singapore firms were in the throes of the global financial crisis. Sapphire Windows, like several other local companies, had been struck by the damaging effects of this economic catastrophe, which was trigged by a downturn in the US housing market the year before that had caused a seismic ripple throughout the world.
“Business was bad,” states Sapphire Windows founder and managing director Jeffrey Liew candidly. “The management had already taken a pay cut, but the staff were still worried about who might be axed.” In a bid to allay their fears and help get the business back on track,
