Amid the din and haze of Beijing.s central business district, Nicole Bernard is seek-ing clients with a taste for the .ner things. Her company, Sli Siar . Irish for "Way to the West" . is a lifestyle consultancy that, according to the company.s mission statement, "hopes to walk together with wealthy Chinese into a new age of healthy luxury consumption."

Rosewood cabinets, hand-woven Persian carpets, and stained-glass ceilings make the anteroom of the company.s Beijing office look like the interior of a grand Irish castle. Here, clients and potential customers get a hint of the European luxuries that Bernard and her staff can help arrange. For those suitably impressed, Sli Siar can organize a banquet or wedding in a real medieval castle overlooking the rugged Irish shoreline.

Raised far from medieval castles herself . she.s from "the mountains of Tennessee" . Bernard came to China in 1996 as marketing manager for Eastman Kodak.s medical imaging division. From 2001, she headed up the China operations of Nasdaq-listed Irish software firm IONA Technologies . but by 2005 the American executive was looking for a new chal-lenge. "I.d been keeping eyes and ears open for five years or so," she says. "When you have been in China a long time ideas come to you. It.s about being in the right place at the right time. Ifive had a few ideas but the market wasn.t ready for them."

When she eventually settled on establish-ing a lifestyle consultancy, Bernard found a receptive ear in Dr Christopher J Horn, one of Ireland.s most successful businessmen and founder of IONA. Horn co-founded Sli Siar with Bernard early in 2005. "We are a consulting company. One element is lifestyle consultancy," says Bernard, CEO of the Dublin-headquartered company and chief representative at its Beijing office.

Coming up with the concept of "luxury without vanity," Sli Siar offers customized leisure travel to Ireland and other European destinations for China.s wealthy. Clients can visit historical and cultural landmarks or play a round on Ireland.s best golf courses. Equestrian sports and deep-sea .shing are also on offer, as are meetings with local business leaders. "We will plan down to the tiniest details and offer extensive concierge services," says Bernard.

Sli Siar is counting on China.s nascent middle class to continue growing . and spending. "We have seen some strong trends towards luxury goods and services," says Bernard. With new wealth will come sophistication and a hankering for the .ner things in life, she hopes. After all, Sli Siar promises "�cser-vices that can bring a higher level of life enjoyment to wealthy Chinese with impeccable taste."

Novel concept

Nouveau riche .ashing cash and cars has been the focus of some ire in China, where a worry-ing wealth gap is taxing of.cials. minds. Most whofive got it in China .aunt it . hence the coun-try.s sky bound housing and car sales .gures . but Bernard believes many wealthy Chinese are less brash and more sophisticated.

"Conspicuous consumption is the first step in the evolution of individual wealth," says Bernard. "China is now going through the first step." Slí Siar's services will appeal to those with .ner, but less overt, tastes. "what they're seeking is not just material wealth. They have an appreciation for art and good health. They prefer to use their wealth to make family healthy and happy. They seek a more noble form of wealth…they seek luxury without vanity.”

But just how many wealthy Chinese are there out there to afford Slí Siar's services? Bernard feels the numbers are underreported. "Our as-sumption is that there are more wealthy Chinese than reported. A large portion will go to great lengths to protect privacy. On the 1999 Forbes 100 richest Chinese list the minimum was US$6 million, not including real estate assets. In 2004 the bottom of the pile was worth US$141 mil-lion. Therefore if wealth is being grossed at that scope, we predict that more and more Chinese are becoming wealthy.”

Slí Siar is not the only company seeking to cater to the whims of China's wealthy. British membership concierge company Quintessen-tially has had offices in Beijing and Shanghai for over a year. But Bernard doesn't see the two firms as competitors. "Perhaps it's the same people we're targeting, but our respec-tive clients have different needs sometimes. It's not necessarily a competitive relation-ship. We're glad Quintessentially is here to cultivate the same concept, and we applaud the company.”

Given Bernard's track record in China, get-ting investors in behind Slí Siar wasn't too dif.cult. It helped that Dr Christopher Horn was a co-founder: the IONA chief has close connections to China and several Chinese leaders, including Premier Wen Jiabao, have visited IONA's Dublin headquarters. Com-municating the concept behind the company has proven more demanding. "It's a challenge to get across the idea of enjoying your wealth in a different way and via a service provider," Bernard explains. "we don't offer a set series 97of packages but rather follow the interests of our clients to guide them to meet their needs. We are very one-on-one focused. We like to do a lot of listening."

Old China hands

Reaching clients is a discreet process of se-lection and recommendation. Word of mouth and champagne receptions work in Beijing and Shanghai. To target smaller cities, Sli Siar works with partners who help communicate the company.s message to the local wealthy. "Our marketing campaign should be very discreet," says Bernard. "We are very targeted and not mass market oriented. The clientele we target are very private people so the way we communicate is in a low key way."

Lifestyle guidance aside, Sli Siar also of-fers advice on investments in Ireland, and claims to be able to arrange meetings with Irish government officials and business lead-ers. For Irish firms, it offers help in setting up an office and recruiting and forming joint ventures. "The relations we are developing can complement each other," Bernard says. "We have the ability to advise both sides. Many Chinese companies want to bring their products and services to Ireland. They respect what Ireland has achieved in its IT industry and want to learn from it."

Aside from making the Sli Siar concept "clear and effective," Bernard hopes to bring the com-pany into pro.tability by mid-2006. For now, she.s concentrating on honing the company.s services and staff skills. "You have to be abso-lutely sure you can keep promises . we feel we have the background in Ireland to do that. We want to be very close to clients to do the job perfectly for them."

Still, having piles of cash alone doesn.t auto-matically mean wealthy Chinese will beat a path to Sli Siar.s door. "It.s as much about lifestyle choices as what.s in the bank account, though a minimum .nancial status would be needed to avail of our high end services," Bernard explains. A striking company logo over her desk sums up Sli Siar.s potential . two dragons, one Celtic, the other Chinese, meeting in friendship. "The Irish and Chinese get along quite well, both personali-ties are strong on modesty."