The world's leading toy distributer, Santa Claus Enterprises on Wednesday said it plans to move the majority of its operations east to Hong Kong in 2012. The traditional North Pole base will remain in operation, but in a much-reduced capacity following the 2011 Christmas period.

Despite the long-standing popularity of the service and a seemingly iron grip on the Christmas market in the West; Claus has now got his sights on tapping into the lucrative mainland Chinese market, while driving further efficiencies from establishing his considerable logistics base close to his major toys sourcing region in the Pearl River Delta.

Global real estate consultancy CBRE was drafted in 12-months ago to make this considerable undertaking a reality.

Spokesperson for CBRE Edward Farrelly said: "We are delighted that Santa Claus Enterprises have decided to make a move into Hong Kong. We are talking about one of largest and most famous logistics operations in the world, and this highlights the ever-increasing importance for international corporates to have a substantial presence in the Asia-Pacific region. Mr. Claus approached CBRE in late 2010 for assistance and given his desire to expand market share in mainland China, a major consideration given the slow-down in North American and eurozone economies; Hong Kong was the natural choice due to its unrivalled location."

The company's prime office space is located at Two Landmark East in Kwun Tong in Kowloon East. Its logistics space to act as Santa's primary toy distribution centre is located in the Interlink Goodman logistics facility in Tsing Yi, 2 kilometres from the port container terminal and in close proximity to the Chinese border.

The Kwun Tong office will house Santa's Business Development and considerable marketing and communications department, which in the months of October and November can receive in excess of 1 million letter and electronic orders a day.

On the logistics side, CBRE estimated that to achieve a mainland China market share of 50 percent for children of under 11 years, with an average of three gifts per child, Santa Claus needed to increase the size of his current logistics capabilities considerably.

"The location was certainly one of the key considerations. The 5.5 to 6.5 metres ceiling heights within the facility will provide them excellent storage capacity for of all manner of goods and the Ashford Formula floor treatment will ensure a dust free environment. Also, with the building set to receive HKBEAM (Hong Kong Building Environmental Assessment Method) accreditation this will allow Santa to ensure compliance with their stringent corporate social responsibility policy. And finally, the developer keen to tailor solutions to their clients, kindly agreed to modify and lower the standard internal provisions to ensure the elves did not need to stand on each other's shoulders to use the amenities, or flick on and off the light switches," said Darren Benson, senior director, Industrial and logistics for CBRE Hong Kong.