Irene Yoong-Henery came to England in the winter of 1989, as a poor student. Since then, she has founded multiple businesses, raised 4 successful daughters and become a multi-millionaire.

LAW and ACCOUNTANCY

She was originally from Malaysia and came to London to study accountancy, working the maximum hours she was allowed to do legally, on the London Underground selling refreshments to travellers in Travellers’ Fare. In the summer she had 3 jobs. She qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant in 1994 while working for J. Sainsbury plc, preparing and monitoring multi-million pound budgets for hundreds of supermarkets and petrol stations. She founded the Black Country multi-award winning law firm, Ian Henery Solicitors, with her husband in 2000. Ian Henery Solicitors became the largest law firm in Birmingham’s China Town. It had branches in Streetly, Hamstead, Chinatown and its head office was in Willenhall. It won numerous awards including Best Criminal Lawyer, Pro-bono Lawyer of the Year, Excellence in the Professions and Best Niche Law Firm.

PROPERTIES

In 2001, Irene noticed that properties were doubling in value every 7 years, so she started investing in buy to let properties. She assembled a team of builders, electricians and plumbers and went into property development, sometimes buying auction properties in cash to refurbish and let out with quick turn around periods. She manages all her properties herself, even to this day.

LADY WITHERSDALE

In 2015, she acquired the manorial and mineral rights to a Suffolk village and became the Lady of Withersdale, and her husband became Lord Withersdale. In 2016, she was a subject of the British Chinese Project at the Chinese Community Centre in Birmingham and her personal journey is documented in various libraries celebrating ethnic Chinese immigrants to Birmingham and the Black Country. In March 2021, a metal sculpture was also made of her for a project celebrating migrant people who helped build Birmingham.

ESTATE AGENCY

Irene also set up an estate agency in 2015 and in 2017, she travelled to Beijing and Shanghai to promote real estate investment in Birmingham as well as British wine. In Beijing she signed contracts with Winteam 500 law group to become their UK representative. They had over 100 branches worldwide including Canada, Russia, USA, Malaysia, Germany and South Korea.

FASHION – SHOES & JEWELLERY MANUFACTURING

Irene was the Conservative Women’s Enterprise Director for the West Midlands, mentoring women to start their own businesses. She organised fashion shows and talks at Resorts’ World, Birmingham to inspire women. When Irene turned 40 years old, she started having problems with her knees when she wore high heels. She realised that most designer shoes were made by men (Christian Louboutin, Jimmy Choo, Manolo Blahnik for example) and she researched the qualities of a good pair of ladies’ shoes, became a qualified shoe fitter and founded Glass Slipper Couture Limited, a leather shoes manufacturing company that only made comfortable high heels for women.

In 2026, Irene designed sapphire with white gold jewellery and presented the “Sapphire & Snow” jewellery collection to jewellers in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham and is planning to launch the collection at a fashion show.

MUSIC

In 2024 Irene volunteered at Black Country Radio as a community radio producer and co-produced The Ian Henery Show, which was broadcasted twice a week. It was an arts and culture show celebrating Black Country heritage. This led to Irene founding the St. Teresa’s Ministry By Music project in 2025, turning biblical psalms into commercial songs for evangelising and fundraising purposes.

In 2026, she founded Michelle And Duncan Music Ltd (M.A.D. Music), a music production company with her husband and they will be showcasing their music in the Walsall Maker Fest on 26/9/2026. Their music has caught the attention of a very famous agent and a recording contract may be imminent. They are also working on a musical about the Second World War which has caught the interest of the Chinese embassy. Irene and her husband are also working with Walsall Council on bringing a Jazz and Blues Festival to Walsall in August 2027.