Joe Zhou founded The Group, a Hong Kong-based trader in non-ferrous metals (mainly aluminium and copper), in 2009. The Group sources its metals from a wide variety of suppliers around the world and sells to a select group of customers in China. Joe has been working in the metal recycling industry since 1994, when he graduated from the University of New South Wales. After graduating, he started to search for suppliers for his family's metal recycling trading businesses. In 2009, Joe shifted the focus of The Group to concentrate on suppliers and customers who had no connection with him or his family.