Asian Achievers Awards 2014

September2014

GUJARATSAMACHAR

14th

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ASIAN ACHIEVERS AWARDS 2014Asian Voice & Gujarat Samachar 3

I want to wish everyone involved in this year’s Asian Achievers Awardsthe very best of luck for a successful evening.

All of those nominated are true success stories - leading their field inbusiness, the public sector, sports, charity and community work and the arts,culture and media.

These awards give us a chance to recognise and celebrate both theirincredible achievements and the wider contribution Britain's Asian communitymakes to our country.

Together, we can inspire more young people - from all backgrounds - to follow that example of aiming high andworking hard to realise their ambitions.

Good luck to every nominee. Please keep up your fantastic work and have a great evening.

Rt Hon Nick Clegg, MPDeputy Prime Minister

I send my best wishes to everyone taking part in this year’s AsianAchievers Awards – a celebration of the outstanding achievements of theAsian community in Britain.

And there certainly are a lot of achievements to choose from. Every dayacross our country, British Asians are not only making their mark, they’reexcelling – in business, in public services, in the arts, in sport and in so manymore professions. It is great to see these awards recognise some of thesepeople – for their personal achievements as well as for their fantastic contribu-tion to our country.

For generations Britain’s Asian communities have given so much to theUK in so many ways. Not only are you playing an important part in Britain’s economic recovery by boosting jobs,skills and prosperity, your equally important cultural contribution has helped make Britain the vibrant, richly diverseand tolerant country it is today.

I’d like to congratulate CB Patel and his team for once again bringing about this great event. I’m sure that thesuccess stories celebrated tonight will inspire tomorrow’s generations of British Asians in taking our whole countryfrom strength to strength. To everyone involved in this year’s awards I wish you all a wonderful evening.

Rt Hon David Cameron, MPPrime Minister

10 DOWNING STREETLONDON SW1A 2AAwww.gov.uk/number10

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER70 WHITEHALL, LONDON SW1A 2AS

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ASIAN ACHIEVERS AWARDS 2014Asian Voice & Gujarat Samachar4

I am delighted to send my best wishes to all finalists of the Asian Achievers Awards (AAA).The AAA awards are important because they are an opportunity to recognise the hard

work, entrepreneurial spirit and invaluable contributions that the British Asian communitymakes to the economy, to our businesses and diversity of the UK.

Tonight’s winners have been chosen by the public, which is a testament in itself tothe great work that you do in the community. I know how important is it for young peoplein Britain to be inspired and have role models across a range of different fields. I hope theyounger generation of British Asians will tonight aspire to reach the same levels of successand have a renewed ambition to continue the great work of British Asians.

I hope that you have a very enjoyable evening and would like to wish you all the best for the future.

Rt Hon Ed Miliband MPLeader of the Labour Party

The Asian community is a hugely diverse one that makes an enormous contribution to theeconomic and cultural life of London and the whole country.

Dynamic, committed and hardworking, Asian people are found in all sections of soci-ety - from business and politics, to arts, entertainment and sport. They are critical to thesuccess of our economy, setting up and running businesses both large and small, as wellas having a significant role in important international trading links.

Congratulations to all the winners of this year's Asian Achievers Awards.May you go from strength to strength.

Boris JohnsonMayor of London

Now in its 14th year, the Asian Achievers Awards ongoing endeavour to recognise andencourage excellence has been invaluable. British Asians continue to make huge contribu-tions to numerous fields in the UK. Their hard work and drive have enabled them to turnadversity into opportunity.

I regularly meet British Asians whose entrepreneurial spirit and drive has improved thelives of people in the UK and abroad.

The Asian Achievers Awards, nominated by the public, serves to highlight not onlythe prominence of British Asians in British Society, but also to provide role models to inspire young British Asians to excel.

Women are intrinsically important in all communities but often their achievements are taken for granted or stuntedby inequality. It is heartening to see the Asian Community, as everyone should, truly celebrating their contribution andachievements tonight.

I would like to pay tribute to CB Patel one of Britain’s legendary editors and to the staff of Asian Voice andAsian Voice and Gujarat Samachar, now in their 43rd year, for their dedication to recognising outstanding British

Asians. I would also like to congratulate all those nominated for the awards and wish them all the best in their inspira-tional endeavours.

Rt Hon Keith Vaz, MPChairman Home Affairs Select Committee

HOUSE OF COMMONSLONDON SW1A 0AA

HOUSE OF COMMONSLONDON SW1A 0AA

LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION

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It is a great honour to be your Chief Guest at this year’s Asian Achievers Awards.As Foreign Secretary, and particularly through my business and treasury roles pre-Coalition

Government, I have seen the Asian community thrive and prosper, even during these difficulteconomic times.

Awards like these focus attention on the remarkable dynamism and achievement of Asianentrepreneurs, and are testament to your talent, hard work, dedication and enthusiasm.

A new generation of Asian entrepreneurs is encouraging the British Asian community to expandinto new sectors. Today, 50,000 British Asian businesses in the UK together generate more than £60billion nationwide.

This Government strongly believes that dynamic businesses are the lifeblood of a healthy,expanding economy. Support for business is a principle that lies at the very heart of Conservativethinking and I am delighted that we have been able to help so many people get their ideas off theground. Nationally, there are 400,000 more businesses since the 2010 General Election, which istestimony to the hard work and entrepreneurial spirit of so many in the UK.

Businesses are creating hundreds of thousands more jobs, meaning hundreds of thousandsmore people in work, able to support their families and enjoy the prospect of a brighter, more securefuture. And more and more British businesses are exporting, innovating and growing to become partof the Great British business success story.

I am delighted, therefore, to be able to support tonight’s Asian Achievers Awards. I congratulateall the nominees and winners and, of course, the organisers, without whom the evening would nothave been possible.

I do hope that you have a wonderful evening!

Rt Hon Philip Hammond, MPSecretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs


Chief Guest

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Celebrating the entrepreneurial spiritIn the 14 years of Asian Achievers Awards, there havebeen so many changes- most of them welcome onseveral fronts. I have looked at the shortlist running

into hundreds, representing the growing diversity andincremental levels of success. It was virtually impossibleeven to have a glance at the 20,000 or more nomina-tions for obvious reasons.

The first generation of immigrants in Great Britainhave proved to be a dependable source of labour, andtheir traditional values, inner quest of achieving better,desire to make mark amongst their peers as well asreciprocating the hospitality, good governance and thewarmth of the people of the new 'home' have con-tributed so much to our lives.

In the '50s, but more prominently in '60s, so manyAsians came from so many lands, mainly from formerBritish colonies. They were not guest-workers like thosein Germany. They were either British citizens or thosewho decided to come to Great Britain from theCommonwealth, to make a future for themselves andtheir children.

Professionals and well to do business personswere able to make their mark almost from the begin-ning. Many a one time 'labourers' chose some entrepre-neurial entry point subsequently, which proved to be ofhuge potential.

A middle aged migrant from Kenya, began prepar-ing samosas and selling to nearby shops. Eventually itgrew to become a corporation worth $200mn. Yes, yourguess is right, I am talking about the Pataks.

A person comes from Pakistan, works on buses,opens a small grocery shop for his compatriots andtoday the Bestway has really become big and Sir AnwarPervez has proved to be a man of great vision, successand wisdom.

Two brothers arrived here in their early 20s, workon some building sites. In the weekends they startedmaintenance and repair works in shops and dwellings.Today their construction company has an annual turnover of millions of pounds and they employ hundreds ofpeople- of all races.

I can talk about such exemplary people in the larg-er health sector- pharmacist, pharmaceutical distribu-tors, manufacture, health care and elderly care provisionas well. Similarly, hospitality, retail, wholesale, financialservices and many more sectors gave us or rather thatperson a step to climb, and climbed they have.

Their children born and bred in Britain have aug-mented the process and their participation and excel-lence are not confined to the economic or financial sec-tors alone. Increasingly more and more Asians withcapabilities enter the corporate sectors, civil service,public life as well contribute full time or part time in sev-eral human service activity devoted to well being of theirfellow citizens.

Past is just to inspire. The future has even greaterpotential. Indian cuisine has become a part of the Britishpalate. In tomorrow's world there will be many morerecipes entering our kitchen, larders and super markets.

Developed economieslike the UK are predominantlybased on service sectors.There is an ever growingdemand in maintenance ofgadgets and equipmentsutilised at homes, on roads, atfactory floors, offices andother places.

Innovation has limitlessoptions. Providing care for theelderly, children, education,growing number of retiring orsenior citizens, will need a helping hand of someonewho can make their life more bearable, easier, comfort-able by innovating something newer, better, quicker,cheaper and reliable.

In the current scenario, International cooperationbetween growing economies of the Indian sub-conti-nent, UK and EU have also limitless potentials.

In this special issue, we have a few illustrations ofthe variety and vibrancy of our budding entrepreneurs.We have specifically focussed on the young who arepioneers in their field of activity. I, for one, who has ben-efitted enormously in this great country of ours, can cer-tainly say that from my own limited knowledge of thecapacity and commitment of so many young and thenot-so-old- the geometrical progression is bound toreach greater levels and fo r the good of us all.

I am really grateful for the nominees and nomina-tors for this year, the previous years and the years tocome. I am also confident that in the future, more andmore British Asians will also show their appreciationthrough manifold contributions, to take this country fur-ther.

AAA is not just about applauding the success ofthe Asian achievers. We are also very fortunate, to pro-mote in our humble way, a worthwhile cause every yearand are privileged to have raised large amount of moneyfor charities in the UK and abroad. Many people gracingtonight’s event, encouraging, energising and empower-ing us, have donated generous amount of money toworthy causes over the years.

Inspite of a very busy schedule, we are really grate-ful that the Secretary of State for Foreign andCommonweal th Affairs, Rt Hon Philip Hammond, MP, ispresent amongst us tonight.

I must recognise the contributions of the ABPLteam, who have put in so much work behind today's cel-ebratory event. Without their devotion and determina-tion, this could not have happened.

I would also like to convey my deepest apprecia-tions to our advertisers, subscribers, supporters andreaders who, in their own way, have contributed somuch to our journey. This special issue is my very mod-est tribute to them.

CB PatelPublisher/Editor

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Paul MonkPaul Monk has had a 35 year careerin FMCG Senior Management, main-ly food businesses including Marsand Marks and Spencer. He has played a lead role insome very successful Management Buyouts, notablyGolden Wonder, Burton's Biscuits and Quorn. He raisesmore than £500,000 for charity every year includingfor his own charity, WorKingOptions in Education,which helps State School 6th Formers realise theirpotential.

Sir Victor BlankSir Victor’s career encompasses beinga Partner of solicitors Clifford-Turner(now Clifford Chance); Chairman ofCharterhouse, the investment bankingbusiness; Chairman of Trinity Mirror (the UK’s largestnewspaper quoted publishing group); Chairman of GUSplc which owned Experian, Burberry, Argos, Homebaseand Lewis’s Stores of South Africa; and Chairman ofLloyds Banking Group, which under his chairmanshipbecame the largest U.K. retail banking group. Sir VictorBlank is a Senior Advisor in the U.K. to TPG Capital

Sir Victor was a member of the FinancialReporting Council, Chairman of the IndustrialDevelopment Advisory Board, the first external mem-ber of the Council of Oxford University, and served asa British Business Ambassador from 2008-2012. SirVictor was knighted in 1999.

He is an advisor/trustee of a number of Universityinstitutions and other Foundations. He was recentlyappointed Chairman of the Social Mobility Foundationand he chairs three other charities, including Wellbeingof Women.

Aly KassamAly Kassam is the Chief ExecutiveOfficer and Finance Director of theCrimson Hotel Group. CrimsonHotels are one of the largest hoteloperators in the United Kingdom operating a numberof brands and including managing Europe’s largestHoliday Inn Express. The Group also has hotels inPortugal and Dubai. Widely respected by Banks andthe hotel industry Aly has made a success of CrimsonHotels since taking over some years ago. He is alsoknown for his charity work.

Dr Sonal MinochaDr Minocha, originally from NewDelhi, India, is one of the youngestPro Vice Chancellors at a U.K.University. She leads the Global Engagement portfolioat Bournemouth University. Sonal also became theyoungest Dean in the country when at the University ofBedfordshire three years ago. Her impressive careerspans both private and public sectors and she has con-tributed to Higher Education internationally. Sonal hasbeen at the forefront of shaping new thinking and prac-tice at a number of Universities. She is also a prolificresearcher having authored books and researchpapers. Sonal is passionate about education and itsability to shape confident futures not only for our cam-puses but globally too.

Lord Rumi VerjeeLord Verjee is proprietor andChairman of Thomas Goode & Coand a highly successful entrepreneur.He founded Domino’s Pizza in theUK, which now employs over 20,000people and he is Chairman of Brompton CapitalLimited and Ipanema Properties in Brazil. He founded The Rumi Foundation, which supportshumanitarian work through education, innovation andknowledge building, principally focussing in the UK butalso supporting projects in India, East Africa and SouthAmerica, working closely with other foundations suchas the Clinton Foundation.

Rumi is a Member of the World’s Presidents’Organisations, the Global Leadership Foundation andwas a member of the Advisory Board of the BritishOlympic Association for the London 2012 OlympicGames. Rumi is co-chair of We Day UK together withHolly Branson. In 2009 he was awarded theCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)for charitable services. In September 2013, Rumi was appointed to the Houseof Lords as a Liberal Democrat Peer.

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The people’s choice awards

Philippa Tomson is an RTS award-winning television presenter.She started her career in the West Midlands as an 18-year-old trainee newspaperreporter on the Wolverhampton-based Express & Star. In 2002, she joined ITV Centraland regularly co-anchored the programme with Bob Warman.Pip later became co-anchor of ITV Tyne Tees' North East Tonight and ITV Border’sLookaround.She has also presented and reported on a number of other programmes includingGood Morning Britain, Sky News, Daybreak, GMTV and regularly works as acorporate event host.Pip was twice honoured with a Presenter of The Year award by the Royal TelevisionSociety - in 2012 and 2010.Away from work, Pip is a devoted dog lover. She owns two Tibetan Terriers andsupports many animal charities.

Nithin Ganatra, has had a long career in the theatre having performed with the Royalshakespeare company in Les Enfants Du Paridis and the National theatres productionof Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie. And he's also worked withOscar winning director Sam Mendes in the Donmar Warehouses production of ToThe Green Fields Beyond.

He is known internationally as Prince Pondicherry in the Tim Burton film Charlieand the Chocolate Factory. He also appears in the Gurinder Chada film Bride andPrejudice as Kholi Saab and The Mistress of Spices as Haroun, and Dev RajainMumbai Calling. He also appeared in the first ever iPod commercial. Ganatra alsoappeared in an episode of The Catherine Tate Show, as Joanie Taylor's daughter'spartner.

Other appearances include the TV show Jane Hall, the CBBC television showGina's Laughing Gear, a character in Meet the Magoons playing himself, a semi leadrole as Rez, brother of main character Shifty, in the 2008 British cult film Shifty abouta Muslim crack-cocaine dealer, and Martin Soper in Twenty Twelve. He alsoappeared in Being April with Pauline Quirkeplaying Sinil. Currently he best know forthe loveable postman Masood Ahmed on Eastenders.

Laura Elliot, known as DJ Lora, began her professional DJ career aged 20 in London.Lora grew up in Durban, South Africa and moved to London in the late 90's when

she was 17 years old. Lora's first set was at the Mayfair Club in London and she thenset out to become a professional full-time DJ. Early in her career Lora won the LondonDJing Championship as the only female in the competition. She caters for all eventsincluding for celebrities, charities and high- scale events. DJ Lora has performed forsuch celebrities as Simon Le Bon, Paul McCartney, Prince William and Prince Harry.

DJ Lora performs in venues internationally and has a regular radio showlaunching in the Middle East in September. She has been the official DJ at the AmberLounge, the exclusive Formula One after party for three years. Lora holds regular slotsat London based clubs: The Wellington Club, Arts Club, 5 Hertford Steet and Mortons.She will be be joining the England national cricket team in India this year as well asperforming for the Kolkatta Knight Riders team.

Lora runs a DJ school at The Wellington Club that teaches people of all ages.She is a committed supporter of the Barts & London Childrens Hospital. She iscurrently raising funds to buy drugs for a medical camp in Sierra Leone, amongstsupporting other children's charities around the world.


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Achievment in Media, Arts & Culture

The Finalists


Shahid Khan aka Naughty boyShahid Khan, often credited by his artist and pro-duction name Naughty Boy, is a British DJ,song- writer, record producer and musician. In2012, Khan signed a three-year publishingdeal with Sony ATV. Khan launched himself as arecord producer under the moniker"Naughty Boy" and runs Naughty BoyRecordings. Khan spent 2011 and 2012 work-ing on records for Leona Lewis, JLS, Cheryl Cole

and Tinie Tempah, among others.In 2013,Naughty Boy released his debut album HotelCabana featuring the number one hit "La La La",featuring Sam Smith and "Lifted", another collab-oration with Sandé. His debut album peaked atnumber two in the UK and his single, NaughtyBoy's "La La La" was awarded 'Best Song' and'Best Video' at the MOBO Awards 18thAnniversary.

Samira AhmedSamira Ahmed is an award winning journalistand broadcaster, and a visiting professor ofJournalism at Kingston University with a specialfocus on culture and its overlap with politics.She presents the weekly programme Newswatchon BBC1 and regularly presents a wide variety ofBBC Radio programmes including the arts pro-grammes Front Row and Free Thinking. She also

presents television coverage of the Proms onBBC4. She previously presented two series of theBBC1 ethics discussion programme, SundayMorning Live. Samira writes regularly on cultureand politics in newspapers including TheGuardian and The Independent.

Hanif Kureishi CBEHanif Kureishi CBE is an English playwright,screenwriter and filmmaker and novelist. In2008, The Times included Kureishi in their list of"The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".Kureishi was born in Bromley, South London toa Pakistani father, Rafiushan Kureishi, and anEnglish mother, Audrey Buss. He started hiscareer in the 1970s as a pornography writer,

under the pseudonyms Antonia French andKarim. He wrote My Beautiful Laundrette in1985, which won the New York Film Critics BestScreenplay Award and an Academy Award nom-ination for Best Screenplay. He also wrote thescreenplay for Sammy and Rosie Get Laid (1987)amongst many others.

Akram Khan MBEAkram Khan is one of the most celebrated andrespected dance artists today. In just over adecade he has created a body of work that hascontributed significantly to the arts in the UK andabroad. His reputation has been built on the suc-cess of imaginative, highly accessible and rele-vant productions such as DESH, iTMOi, VerticalRoad. An instinctive and natural collaborator,Khan has been a magnet to world-class artists

from other cultures and disciplines. Khan’s workis recognised as being profoundly moving, inwhich his intelligently crafted storytelling is effort-lessly intimate and epic. Khan has been the recip-ient of numerous awards throughout his careerincluding the Laurence Olivier Award, the presti-gious ISPA (International Society forthePerforming Arts) Distinguished Artist Award.

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Gold Award for Achievment in Media, Arts & Culture

The Finalists


Shahien TajShahien Taj is the Founder & Executive Directorof Henna Foundation, formally known as Saheli,a specialist user-led agency and registered charityestablished to advance the needs, concerns andaspirations of Asian and Muslim children andfamilies. Committed to equality, human rightsprinciples and encouraging the nurture and socialadvancement of positive family environments, Tajhas acquired a practice based specialist under-standing in tackling the issues of ‘honour’ related

abuses and Forced Marriages and developedreciprocal engagement and dialogue amongstaffected grassroots community groups. She hasestablished positive working relations with across-section of services including the Foreign &Commonwealth office, Forced Marriage unit,Police Constabularies, Crown Prosecution Servicealong with numerous other statutory and volun-tary agencies and services.

Wasim Gulzar Khan MBEWasim was the first British born Pakistani to playprofessional cricket in England, playing in thedouble winning Warwickshire team in 1995. Healso represented Sussex and Derbyshire. In 2005he was recruited by Lord Mervyn King to set upChance to Shine, a Cricket-Education Enterprise.He has been CEO since 2009. Chance to Shineis now recognised as the biggest programme of

its kind, in the world. It has engaged and inspired2.5 million young people (including 1 million girls)and has raised £55 million since 2005. His auto-biography ‘Brim Full of Passion’ was awarded theprestigious ‘Wisden Book of the Year’ award in2006. In 2013, he was awarded an MBE for serv-ices to cricket and the community.

Sajda MughalSajda Mughal is a multi-award winning commu-nity and women’s rights activist. Since 2008, shehas been leading the women’s charity, JAN Trust(www.jantrust.org). It educates, engages andempowers grass roots disadvantaged Black,Asian, minority ethnic and refugee women andgirls. She has a passion for working with thecommunity, especially those from under-repre-sented groups in order to empower them,

whether it is providing a voice for women or com-bating violence against women or motivatingyouth to aim high and aspire to achieve greatthings. Sajda has first-hand experience as a victimof terrorism; she is the only known Muslim sur-vivor of the atrocious London terror attack on 7July 2005. She narrowly escaped being serious-ly injured or killed.

Kiran Bali MBE JPHonoured with the MBE at the age of 29, forexceptional voluntary community service, Kiran isone of a mere handful of young female globalcommunity leaders .Kiran has shown outstanding international leader-ship and activism to promote equity and under-standing, whilst addressing community chal-lenges through interfaith action and social justiceat the grassroots level as a Magistrate.

The youngest ever Chairperson of the largestglobal interfaith organisation, operating in 94countries, Kiran has addressed the UN GeneralAssembly on women’s empowerment and com-munity challenges through impactful actions. Pouring her talents, into the community, Kiran hasled community Karate classes and pioneered ini-tiatives to reduce isolation amongst elderly peo-ple.

Achievment in Community Service


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Sports Personality of the Year

The Finalists


Dilawar Singh MBEDilawer Singh MBE is the Sports Councilfor Glasgow Elected Director. He was the firstAsian and Sikh police officer in Scotland andspent over 30 years with StrathclydePolice and Her Majesty's Inspectorate. A formerwrestler Dilawar, keen kabbadi player, referee andcoach, badminton player and coach andmarathon runner, Dilawar has raised thousandsof pounds for different international charitiesthrough his sporting exploits. Dilawar was

also part of the 2014 Bid Team and now sits onsub commit- tees for recruiting volunteers andplanning the legacy of the games. Amongst a listof prestigious awards and titles, particular high-lights include Dilawar receiving the LifetimeAchievement Award from the Lord Provostof Glasgow for his contribution and service toSport; Honorary President of the Association ofIndian Organisations .

Manisha TailorManisha is a qualified Headteacher by profes-sion, however embarked upon a career change tofollow her love and passion for football. She iscurrently Head Coach at Middlesex Girls Centreof Excellence as well as a grassroots coach work-ing the local community. She is the first Asian

female to hold a scouting position at a profession-al club, Brentford FC. Manisha is an FAEducation tutor and education worker at anti-racism charity, Show Racism the Red Card. Sheis an ambassador for the FA and British AsianSporting Talent Foundation.

Paran SinghAn inspirational and influential figure of Asians InSports being one of the pioneers of the progres-sion of Asians In Football. Being one of the minor-ity of Asian footballers in the UK Paranveer hasgone on to being one of the very few to representprofessional clubs including in the PremierLeague, Championship and the David BeckhamAcademy. Off the pitch Paranveer represents the

Asian community with great pride being nomi-nated for several awards, nominated as a torch-bearer for the London 2012 Olympics and open-ing his very own football foundation to developAsians all around the world. Paranveer hasrecently been signed to TSD Corporation workingclosely with Asia, the upcoming ISL Tournamentand being offered his very own TV Show.

Neil John TaylorNeil John Taylor is a Welsh footballer whoplays for Swansea City as a defender. Born inDenbighshire, Taylor is of mixed Welsh-Indian descent. His mother is from Kolkata inIndia. Taylor began his career at Manchester City,but left the club at the age of 15. He insteadmoved to Wrexham at the age of 16 progressingthrough the youth system at the club. At the end

of the 2009–10 season, Taylor joined FootballLeague Championship side Swansea City. Hemade his Swans league debut coming on as asub for Albert Serrán. On 14 December 2012,Taylor signed a new three-and-a-half- year con-tract with Swansea, which keeps him at the clubuntil 2016.


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The Finalists


Dipprasad Pun CGCDipprasad Pun CGC is a Nepalese corporal of theRoyal Gurkha Rifles who was decorated with theConspicuous Gallantry Cross for an act of braveryduring the War in Afghanistan on the night of 17September 2010. Pun, then an Acting Sergeant,single-handedly defeated 12 - 30 Taliban insur-gents who were storming his con- trol post nearBabaji in Helmand province.Immediately prior tothe engagement, Pun, who was with the 1st

Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles, was on sentry dutyat a checkpoint guarding his unit's com- pound.Taliban fighters, planting bombs near the com-pound gate under the cover of darkness, sudden-ly surrounded and attacked his post with AK-47sand RPGs. Pun originally hails from Bima in west-ern Nepal, and lives with his wife Shobha inAshford.

Nazir Afzal OBENazir Afzal OBE LLD(hon) is the Chief CrownProsecutor for the North West of England, withresponsibility for nearly 100,000 prosecutions ayear. He is National lead for tackling ViolenceAgainst Women & Girls and Child Abuse. He alsoleads on tackling so called honour crimes andforced marriage. His successful prosecution ofpeople like Stuart Hall have demonstrated that

nobody is above the law. He is the public face ofthe justice system and regularly appears in themedia leading the public debate. His voluntaryactivity includes being Pro-Chancellor of BrunelUniversity London and Trustee of three charitiesworking with vulnerable people and supportingchildren.

Kul MahayKul joined the Police as a 16 year old Police Cadetas one of the first few Asian officers inDerbyshire. He was the founder member of theBlack Police Association (BPA) in Derbyshire andhas served several times as Chair of this group.He was also the first Vice President of theNational BPA.Kul now holds the rank of Superintendent and

has held many specialist roles, including homi-cide investigation, public order commander,firearms and critical incident commander as wellheading up several specialist departments.He has always involved himself in charity work.In 2013, he organised bone marrow donor clinicsin Derby after hearing the plight of a father of asick child on radio.

Millie Banerjee CBEMillie Banerjee CBE is a British businesspersonand public official, currently High Sheriffof Greater London and Chair of the BritishTransport Police Authority. Banerjee read for aBSc in zoology at University College London andthen a DMS from the Polytechnic of NorthLondon (now the University of North London).She also studied at Greenwich University fromwhere she has an honorary doctorate.She chairs

Working Links a public, private voluntary sectorcompany working with Government in support-ing long term unemployed and disabled citi-zens. She chairs Nominet Trust which invests inapplication development for social good. In herexecutive life she spent 25 years with BT in vari-ous senior roles including operations, large scalesystem implementation, product design and con-sumer service.

Uniformed & Civil Services


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The Finalists


Anu Ojha OBEAnu Ojha is Director of the UK’s National SpaceAcademy programme. He has co-led the develop-ment for UK Government of the NationalFramework for Higher Apprenticeships for theSpace Sector and is also leading the develop-ment of new international teaching programmesfor the UK Space Agency and European SpaceAgency (ESA). Before joining the National Space

Centre as a Director in 2008, he was AssistantHeadteacher of the largest specialist science col-lege in the UK and was one of the first physicsteachers in the country to be awarded AdvancedSkills Teacher (AST) status for excellence in teach-ing. In 2014 he was appointed OBE for servicesto science education in the Queen’s BirthdayHonours List.

Dr Sandy GuptaDr Gupta was appointed as one UK’s youngestHeart Specialists; being a Consultant Cardiologistat Whipps Cross BartsHealth NHS TrustsHospitals, London since 1999. He sees and treatspatients with potentially life-threatening cardiacconditions on a daily basis.He was previously awarded a British HeartFoundation (BHF) research fellowship. Author of

text-book, over 40 published papers and editori-als and several book chapters. His own researchwas commented to be ‘one the top medical sto-ries for 1997’.Dr Gupta has been a recipient of ‘AchievementAwards’ bestowed by Honourable Dr AbdulKalaam, Past-President of India and HonourableSir Anerood Jugnauth, President of Mauritius.

Faisel Rahman OBEFaisel Rahman has a background in internationaldevelopment at the Grameen Bank and theWorld Bank, in Bangladesh. He also brieflyworked as an underwriter for a syndicate atLloyds of London and co-authored a number ofbooks.In 2000 he returned to the UK and devel-oped the first microcredit program in the UK .In2005 he founded Fair Finance, a social businessthat aims to reduce financial exclusion and

exploitation amongst poor and low income com-munities in the UK.Faisel is currently the electedPresident of the European Microfinance Networkand writes an occasional column the GuardianNewspaper on issues around financial exclusion.In 2007 he was elected one of the first UKAshoka Fellows in recognition of his work insocial enterprise.

Prof. Sir Tejinder Singh Virdee, FRSProf. Sir Tejinder Singh Virdee, FRS is an experi-mental physicist and Professor of Physics atImperial College London. He is best known fororiginating the concept of CMS with a few othercolleagues and has been referred to as one of the'founding fathers' of the project. Virdee was elected Fellow of the Royal Societyand of the Institute of Physics in 2012. In recogni-

tion of his work on CMS he has been awardedthe Institute of Physics (IOP) 2007 High EnergyPhysics Prize and the IOP 2009 Chadwick Medaland Prize.In 2014, Virdee was knighted in the Queen'sBirthday Honours list for services to science.


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The Finalists


Saba ShaukatSaba is passionate about technology, internetand the mobile industries. She grew up with theinternet, when working for leading global compa-nies such as Vodafone, Deloitte Consulting andBT at Director and Board level in commercial andmarketing roles creating breakthrough technolo-gy solutions and generating revenues of

£100m to £800m. She has an MBA from theLondon Business School. In 2012, with a charity,Saba created a women’s network to raise aspira-tions of girls from deprived areas.

Sharmila Nebhrajani OBESharmila became Chair of the Human TissueAuthority in April, 2014 after a varied career span-ning business, the media and science. Mostrecently, she was Chief Executive of theAssociation of Medical Research Charities – thenational membership organisation of leadingmedical and health research charities. Before thatshe was Chief Operating Officer of BBC Future

Media for 12 years, the division that launched theiPlayer. Sharmila is a board member for thePension Protection Fund, the University of Sussexand the British Medical Journal. She was appoint-ed OBE in the June 2014 Birthday Honours Listfor services to medical research.

Priya Lakhani OBEFormer barrister, Priya Lakhani, founded FMCGbusiness Masala Masala in 2008 successfullylaunching it's products into nationwide supermar-ket chains and independent retailers. The com-pany's charitable arm has provided over 1 millionmeals and 35,000 vaccinations to the underpriv-ileged in India and Africa. Priya’s second busi-ness, CENTURY-TECH, is set to disrupt the edu-

cation sector by utilising big data and data miningtechniques to improve students’ learning out-comes.Priya is a member of the Secretary of State forBusiness, Innovation and Skills' Entrepreneurs'Forum and an advisory board member to theEducation Foundation.

Balvinder Kaur SandhuBal is a practicing Diabetes specialist Dietitian for17 years, she has actively worked to make health-care more accessible to BME groups. Bal hasdeveloped and implemented a number of suc-cessful health programmes designed to improveaccessibility. This work has been recognised inParliament as an example of best practice. Bal iswell known in the Sikh Community for her chari-

table efforts and her role as General Secretary ofKhalsa Aid a UK based humanitarian aid charity.Bal coordinated the charities UK flood relief inFebruary 2014. Bal is also involved with fundrais-ing efforts for charitable causes such as Cancerresearch.

Ranjana Bell MBERanjana has over 30 years’ experience in the fieldof Equality and Diversity. She has been a teacherfor children with special needs; a Race EqualityOfficer; an Equal Opportunities Officer for a uni-versity; a Non-Executive Director for a designcompany and has held the position of Director forher own company, RBA Equality & Diversity since1998.

She has been on many Boards and committeesand is currently Chair of the Northumbria PoliceSIAG; Co-Chair of the NE CPS Scrutiny Panel forRacist and Religious Hate Crime and PCCIndependent Member for Police MisconductPanel.

Woman of the Year


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A class apartWestcombe Group is a specialist developer ofprestigious properties in exceptional locationsand has an outstanding reputation for creatingcontemporary living spaces of supreme quality.

Acknowledged as one of the capital’s foremostdevelopers for over four decades, WestcombeGroup creates sophisticated homes andcontemporary commercial spaces that beneVtfrom cutting edge technology.

Westcombe Group’s talent for sympatheticrestoration is perfectly demonstrated at Brackenhill,where a listed Edwardian manor house has beenreturned to its former splendour. The contemporaryfeatures balance sensitively within the classiccontext to give rise to highly individual andelegant living spaces with graceful proportions.

Their forthcoming developments includeThe Limes in Mortlake, the conversion of gradeII listed building overlooking the River Thames.Facing a broad sweep of the river, the six luxuryapartments will have panoramic views and willprovide the ultimate riverside home.

Westcombe Group is converting 92 propertieswithin the Grade II listed St Bernard’s Hospitalin Ealing. This sensitive conversion will createimpressive accommodation that offers modernand luxurious living spaces whilst retaining theunique character of the site.

Also in West London, and providing a singularaddress opposite terminals 3 and 4 at HeathrowAirport, Westcombe Group has acquiredAxis House, an ofVce building that will soonaccommodate 64 luxury one bedroomapartments that will undoubtedly appeal to thefrequent Uyer.

WestCombe2014.qxp_A4 Temp 11/09/2014 13:00 Page 1

Business Person of the Year

The Finalists


Kishore LullaA leading international distributor of Bollywoodmovies out of London, Kishore Lulla is theExecutive Director of Eros and has long wanted togreen-light pictures himself. Mr. Lulla received abachelors’ degree in Arts from MumbaiUniversity. He has over 30 years of experience inthe media and film industry. Eros has its roots asa film distribution company straddling Mumbai

and London. It was started by Kishore Lulla’sfather, Arjan Lulla, in 1977 to export Bollywoodfilms to the world. Lulla, 52, runs the Indian com-pany with the help of his younger brother SunilLulla–who’s been with Eros since 1983–and aprofessional chief executive, Jyoti Deshpande,who owns a slice of the parent company.

Harry DulaiHarry Dulai is Managing Director of Surya Foods,one of the largest suppliers of authentic worldfoods to the UK food sector.Surya's unrivalled, extensive world food rangeshave seen it become the biggest supplier ofworld food lines into supermarket giants Tesco,Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons. It also currentlyruns over 1,500 independent retailaccounts across the UK.

Surya supplies and produces a variety of highquality, 100% authentic ethnic specialty foodbrands ranging from rice, flour, spices and saucesto snacks and beverages with its evolving rangescatering to a range of communities.A member of London Food Board's advisorygroup of independent food experts, Harry is par-ticularly passionate about the issues surroundingfood poverty.

Kirit Patel MBEKirit Patel MBE is one of the UK’s most recog-nised pharmacy entrepreneurs. He is theFounder and Chief Executive of Day Lewis plc,the largest family owned pharmacy chain inEurope. With over 38 years of retail pharmacyexperience, Kirit has grown the business from 2pharmacies in 1975 to now over 230 pharmaciesbased in the UK. The company also operates thePharmacy in Harrods, the world-renowned

department store in London. Kirit is a fellow ofthe Royal Pharmaceutical Society, a pastChairman and Board Member of the NPA (1992-2004), a past Treasurer of the RoyalPharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (2002-2003) and a Founder Member of Association ofIndependent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMp). He iscurrently Vice Chairman of the PSNC (2013).

Mahmud KamaniMahmud Kamani founded Boohoo with CarolKane in 2006, leveraging over 28 years of experi-ence in the fashion industry. Mahmud's involve-ment in the fashion and apparel industry spans allareas of the supply chain from importer to whole-

saler to retailer. Mahmud has sourced garmentsfrom all over the world. An entrepreneur in theretail, trade and hospitality sectors, Mahmud hasdeveloped a loyal team, some of whom haveremained with him for 20 years.


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The Finalists

ASIAN ACHIEVERS AWARDS 2014Asian Voice & Gujarat Samachar

Entrepreneur of the Year

Sukhi GhumanAfter beginning a career as a corporate lawyer,Sukhi is now best known as owner and CEO ofinternationally operating Octavian Security. Hisenthusiasm knows no bounds, and his in-builtsense of urgency and tenacity pay off time andtime again in his business life. Since spotting anopportunity to make his fortune by formingOctavian Security, he has complemented it withother business interests including animation, dis-

tribution of pharmaceutical products, softwareand logistics. Corporate social responsibility has always beenhigh on Sukhi’s agenda and his efforts in bothcharitable fundraising and practical help in thecommunity have been widely recognised.After 10 years in business, Sukhi’s inventive mindcontinues to seek improvements and new busi-ness ventures.

Dr Richie NandaDr Richie Nanda is an international security mag-nate and the Executive Chairman of Topsgrupand The Shield Group. It's annual turnover isexpected to be £160 million with 130 officesworldwide, including headquarters in London,and approximately 8,500 customers. In 2012, DrNanda became the only entrepreneur of anIndian MNC to purchase a 100% stake in a Britishsecurity company, The Shield Group, now the

UK’s largest independent total security solutionsprovider. The companies provide security forsome of the world’s leading brands such as IBMand TATA, events such as the IPL and WorldCricket Champions League, international celebri-ties, VIPs and Royalty such as Her Majesty QueenElizabeth and venues like The Imperial WarMuseum and The Gherkin.

Majid HussainMajid Hussain is Executive Director atAccrol Papers. He presides over the fifth-biggest company – and the only one that isBritish- owned – in the £1.6bn-a-year market ofsupplying toilet rolls and related items such askitchen towels to the UK market. Two-thirds ofthe company’s revenues come from the 600m orso toilet rolls bought each year. It was set up in1993 by Jawid Hussain, Majid’s father, who

remains chairman. Majid joined his two brothers,Wajid and Mozam, who were already working inthe business, four years ago.He cites Accrol’sdevelopment of processes to make high-qualitypaper more cheaply, or its new pack- ages ofproducts to appeal to distributors that sell to busi-nesses rather than consumers.

Taz and Umer SheikhTaz and Umer Sheikh are the founders ofGamucci, a major player in the burgeoningelectronic cigarette sector. Taz and Umerfounded Gamucci in 2006, the next gener-ation of alternative smoking devices, andwas Europe’s first electronic cigarette brand.Before forming Gamucci, Taz and Umerused their combined 40 years sales experi-ence to create their first business venturetogether in 1999. Several years later, they

set up an international IT consultancy whichis now at the forefront of the mobile appsmovement.As pioneers of the electronic cigaretteindustry, Taz and Umer are custodians of theUK’s leading independent e-cigarette brandand are now taking on the tobacco compa-nies with outstanding determination, contin-ually seeking to innovate.

27


The Cherie Blair Foundation for Womenworks in partnership with the non-pro?t,private and public sectors. Our vision is aworld where women entrepreneurs haveequal opportunities to establish and growbusinesses, resulting in a brighter futurefor the women themselves, their familiesand their communities as a whole.

We provide women with the skills,technology, networks and access to capitalthat they need to become successful smalland growing business owners, so thatthey can contribute to their economies andhave a stronger voice in their societies.

We build relationships with partnersthat share our aims and values. For moreinformation and to get involved with ourwork, please visit our website,www.cherieblairfoundation.org or contactus at [email protected].

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The Cherie Blair Foundation for Women operatesin 70 countries around the world, helpingwomen to build their confidence, capability and

access to capital to become successful entrepreneursand business owners. We believe that women’seconomic empowerment is key to their fullparticipation in their societies. We have three coreprogrammes: Enterprise Development, MentoringWomen in Business and Mobile Technology. Since welaunched our programmes in 2009 we have reachedmore than 100,000 women – providing them withthe skills, technology, networks and access to capitalthat they need to become successful small andgrowing business owners.

Empowering rural women in India Working in collaboration with the Mann DeshiFoundation, the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women isplanning to launch a new and innovative project inMaharashtra, India. The aim of the project is toprovide 1,000 women with business incubation,access to loans and business growth opportunities,which in turn, will see them reaping benefits for boththeir families and communities.

Their need is urgent Despite rapid growth in India and some significantachievements within the political arena, genderdisparities in women’s economic participation remaindeep and persistent (OECD, 2013). The percentage ofwomen in India’s workforce stands at only 24%. Inthis, women only account for 8% of the 26.1 millionmicro, small and medium enterprises in India. This issomething both the Cherie Blair Foundation forWomen and the Mann Deshi Foundation aredetermined to change.

Women entrepreneurs in rural India face anumber of challenges to successfully develop andgrow their businesses. They have limited access toenterprise development training, restricted mobilityand experience socio-economic barriers that canprevent them from accessing markets. Rural womenin India also find it hard to access capital and thestandard facilities necessary to expand theirbusinesses. With the expertise of both Foundations,and with your support at the Asian Achievers Awards,this new project in Maharashtra can combat thesechallenges.

Our Project The project will support a currently underservedsector, and reach the most remote and droughtaffected districts, where rural women depend on

agriculture for their livelihoods. Through a holisticpackage of support, the project aims to strengthenwomen’s businesses, and in turn, empower them tochange their economic situation. This will lead to apositive change in gender relations within theircommunities. Our project will provide tailoredbusiness training; mentorship with successfulentrepreneurs; and the ability to access capitalthrough financial literacy and financial awarenesstraining. Critically, we will look at enhancing women’saccess to markets and advancing and promotingwomen’s asset ownership and rights.

Bainabai’s story Bainabai’s childhood was taken away from her whenshe was just nine years old and forced into childhoodmarriage. Exploited and abused by her alcoholichusband and living in a Mumbai slum, Bainabai wasdenied an education and became a mother at 15,giving birth to a son.

Life was tough, however Bainabai took the bravedecision to leave her husband. She found work as alabourer but faced more challenges when her sonbecame ill and Bainabai struggled to pay for hismedical treatment. The spiralling costs led Bainabai tothe Mann Deshi Bank where she received a loan.

Bainabai used the loan to set up a stall sellingtea under a tree, and with a subsequent loan shebought herself a cart and established a tea shop.With Mann Deshi’s support, Bainabai joined a self-help group and received financial literacytraining. This saw her monthly income rise from INR2,000 to INR 10,000. Bainabai has become a rolemodel for the women in rural Maharashtra and hasencouraged others to utilise the Mann Deshi Bank likeshe has.

Bainabai is now a self-help group leader and asuccessful business owner. This is credit to herbravery, perseverance and the Mann Deshi’s supportsystem. We invite you to support more women likeBainabai as we launch this exciting new project, andhope you will give generously so we can make a realand lasting difference to rural women in Maharashtrathis evening.

The Cherie Blair Foundation forWomen - Inspiring Change

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29-Cherie Blair.qxp_A4 Temp 12/09/2014 16:45 Page 29

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5.45PM Drink Reception.

7.30PM Ceremony Begins & Welcome Speech.

7.38PM Performance by Fatboyz.

7.47PM Speech by Chief Guest, Rt Hon Phillip Hammond MP, Secretary of State

for Foreign and Common Wealth Affairs.

7.58PM Speech by Mr Paul Monk, Member of the Asian Achievers Awa

rds 2014

Judging Panel.

8.03PM Award Ceremony Begins.

8.20PM Mrs Cherie Blair QC from the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women,

introducing the charity.

8.25PM Auctions by Lord Jeffery Archer.

9:00PM Dinner announced.

10:00PM Second half of the ceremony commences.

10.02PM Performance by La Luna – Hoop Act.

10.09PM Video messages played.

10.12PM Speech by CB Patel, Editor/Publisher Asian Business Publicatio

ns Ltd.

10.15PM Speech by – His Excellency HE Rajan Mathai, High Commissioner of India.

10.20PM Speech by Mr Dipen Shah, Partner, PWC.

10.25PM Speech by Moni Verma, Chairman, Veetee Group.

10.30PM Performance by Light Balance Act.

10.39PM Acknowledgements by L George, COO, Asian Business Publications Ltd.

10.42PM Awards Continue.

10.55PM Charity raffle by CB.

11:00PM End of the programme.

11:00PM After party.

01:00AM Carriages.

Serv

ingBritain’sAsian

communityfor

over4decadesYEAR43

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ASIAN ACHIEVERSAWARDSThe people’s choice awards

ASIAN ACHIEVERSAWARDSThe people’s choice awards

30-31Programme x 2.qxp_A4 Temp 16/09/2014 09:36 Page 31


Charity Auction Lots

Charity Auctioneer of the Evening

A Journey into ParadiseKuala Lumpur, Penang, Pangkor Laut Up to 4 guests, 8 days and 7 nights

The winning bidder and your guests will experience an extraordinaryjourney of a lifetime, conceived by Tan Sri Dr Francis Yeoh. It truly is a journeythrough paradise, offering every amenity imaginable. Your journey will beginbeing chauffeur driven from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to the Ritz-Carlton hotel. Acclaimed chefs will oversee all meals served in your palatial penthouse suite, with a personal butlerattending to your every need. After two nights there, you will travel overnight on the Eastern & Oriental Express toPenang, where you will stay in the Presidential Suite. Recapturing the elegance and style of the Twenties and Thirtiesyou will be transported back in time on this journey and enjoy lively entertainment and exquisite food. Once inPenang, you will board Dr Yeoh’s private helicopter to his renowned Pangkor Laut Estates, an Island of pristinebeauty. Guests will spend four nights in one of the most exclusive private residences and will have a personal butler,personal chef, access to spa facilities and exclusive use of Dr Yeoh’s private yacht. Dr Yeoh assures bidders that hisguests will enjoy the full compliments of his hospitality and be accorded the finest and most exclusive treatmentevery step of the way. This breath-taking journey is one to bid on this evening!

Kindly donated by Tan Sri Dr Francis Yeoh

Named character in Lord Archer’s next novel

Lord Jeffrey Archer has topped the bestseller lists around the world, with sales of over270 million copies in 97 countries and more than 37 languages. He’s currently writing bookfive of a seven-book series and the first four volumes of The Clifton Chronicles went to No.1on Best Seller lists around the world. This is your chance to become a part of literary history,and have your name, or the name of a friend or loved one appear as a character in Jeffrey’snext book. Readers around the world could know you as a rich, successful businessman, aback-stabbing villain, a chauffeur or a five-times divorcee…or maybe even the wife of aPrime Minister. But beware, the final decision on whether you’re a goodie or a baddie lieswith Jeffrey.

Kindly donated by Lord Jeffrey Archer

LOT 1

LOT 2

LORD JEFFREY ARCHERJeffrey Archer has topped the bestseller lists around the world, with sales ofover 270 million copies in 97 countries and more than 37 languages, and isthe only author ever to have been a number one bestseller in fiction(eighteen times), short stories (four times) and non-fiction (The PrisonDiaries).

He gained a Blue in Athletics at Oxford, was President of the UniversityAthletics Club, and went on to run the 100 yards in 9.6 seconds for GreatBritain in 1966. Jeffrey has served five years in the House of Commons andtwenty-two years as a Member of the House of Lords.

His latest novel Be Careful What You Wish For, (book four of The CliftonChronicles series) spent twelve weeks in the top 10 - four of them at #1 –on the Sunday Times Best Seller list, and also went to #1 in Australia, India,and South Africa.www.jeffreyarcher.comFollow Jeffrey on Facebook and Twitter @Jeffrey_Archer

32-33-34-Auction x 3.qxp_A4 Temp 12/09/2014 16:46 Page 32



Dinner with Cherie Blair and five guests at Gymkhana in a private dining room

Cherie Blair, CBE, QC is the founder and patron of the Cherie Blair Foundationfor Women which is the selected charity for this year’s Asian Achievers Awards. MrsBlair has offered the highest bidder the fantastic chance of dining with her and fiveguests at Gymkhana in Mayfair for a fine dining experience. Guests will enjoy a threecourse menu of contemporary Indian cuisine using seasonal British ingredients,accompanied with sommeliers choice of wine pairing. This will be the perfectopportunity to pick the brains of an accomplished woman and philanthropist.Make sure you and your friends don’t miss out on this exciting opportunity bybeing the highest bidder on the night. Mrs Blair looks forward to the evening.

Kindly donated by Cherie Blair and Gymkhana

Postcard collection drawing by Tracey Emin

Tracey Emin, CBE is an award-winning artist known for her eccentricity. Her art isone of disclosure, using her life events as inspiration for works ranging from painting,drawing, video and installation, to photography, needlework and sculpture. One of hermost famous pieces ‘My Bed’ was auctioned off for a staggering £2.2 million in July ofthis year. For her Turner Prize exhibition in 1999 she displayed six small watercolourscalled the Berlin Watercolour series which were welcomed with great reviews. She isnow in the process of making a new watercolour series and everyone this evening hasthe exciting chance of bidding for one of them. Painted with gouache on paper in Franceearlier this year, Emin has donated an exclusive framed artwork called ‘Sitting’, which shehopes will gain generous donations to the charity.

Kindly donated by Tracey Emin

Two tickets to see Katherine Jenkins perform, plus a meet and greet

Katherine Jenkins, OBE is a renowned Welsh singer who studied at the RoyalAcademy of Music in London. As one of the world's most famous classical singers,her records have sold millions of copies across the globe. She’s appeared onpopular television programmes including Dancing with the Stars and Popstar toOperstar. She performs across a spectrum of operatic arias, popular songs, musicaltheatre and hymns, and has performed for the Queen and royal family. The highestbidder will receive two tickets to see Katherine Jenkins perform at the Royal FestivalHall on December 1st, followed by a meet and greet. The night will surely be oneto remember.

Kindly donated by Katherine Jenkins

LOT 3

LOT 4

LOT 5



Signed Bat by Indian Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Dhoni is the captain of India, his Test and ODI records are the best among allIndian captains to date. Under his captaincy, India won the 2007 ICC WorldTwenty20, the CB Series of 2007–08, the 2010 Asia Cup, the 2011 ICC CricketWorld Cup and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. After taking up the Test captaincyin 2008, he led the team to series wins in New Zealand and West Indies, and theBorder-Gavaskar Trophy in 2008, 2010 and 2013. In 2009, Dhoni also led the Indianteam to number one position for the first time in the ICC Test rankings.

Dhoni has been the recipient of many awards. In June 2014, Forbes rankedDhoni at 22nd in the list of highest paid athletes in the world. In June 2013,Forbesranked him at 16th with $31.5 million. The TIME magazine has added Dhoni in its "Time 100" list of 100 mostinfluential people of 2011. SportsPro has rated Dhoni as the sixteenth most marketable athlete in the world.

Kindly donated by Naynesh Desai of DDO Solicitors

Signed England and India 2014 team Bat

The India national cricket team toured England from 22 June to 7 September2014 for a tour that consisted of five Test matches, five One Day Internationalmatches and one Twenty20 International match. England won the Test series 3–1and received the Pataudi Trophy. India bounced back from an embarrassing defeatin the Test series to smash England in the five-match One-Day International (ODI) affair by 3-1

Kindly donated by Naynesh Desai of DDO Solicitors

LOT 6

LOT 7

Arsenal Signed T Shirt

Arsenal was founded in 1886 in Woolwich, and is one ofthe most successful clubs in English football. Arsenal holds therecord for the longest uninterrupted period in the English topflight and would be placed first in an aggregated league of theentire 20th century. It is the fourth most valuable associationfootball club in the world as of 2012, valued at $1.3 billion.Arsenal also has a long-standing rivalry with neighboursTottenham Hotspur.

Kindly donated by Arsenal Football Club


Raffle Prize


A new generation of aspirations,passions and commitments


Inderneel Singh is well conversed with luxury and allthings five-star. Being son of a renowned hotelier, hisnew role comes easily to him. In February this year,

Inderneel was appointed as the General Manager ofthe five star Mayfair Hotel, a hotel which is part of thelongstanding Edwardian Group, founded in 1977 by hisfather Jasminder Singh.

With a reputation of legendary high standardsand impeccable service, Mr Singh's role will be more ofmaintaining it with a subtle touch of new expertise.Expressing his delight at becoming General Managerand satisfaction with his staff, he purports to keepingMayfair “fresh and in competition”.

Mr. Singh's background is not dissimilar frommany other young upcoming and ambi-tious entrepreneurs. He graduatedfrom Warwick University with a2:1 in Management Scienceand pursued a career inaccountancy with KPMG.However, after five years,he joined the Edwardiangroup as an accountant inboth Audit and Advisory,stating that he alwaysregarded the hospitalitytrade as a “major part of mylife” taking into considerationthat his father was at the centre ofone of the biggest manage-ments in London.

Inderneel had the per-fect teacher in hisfather, to learnthe funda-mental

basics. “He has always given us valuable advice whenit comes to business and how to empower employeesand ensure a great culture within a business. I took thatlearning with me when I went to university.” He furtheremphasised his father's importance in his life by callinghim his greatest inspiration.

Asking whether he ever felt pressured to join thefamily business, Inderneel responded, “It was some-thing that my siblings and I always wanted to be partof and never something that was forced. My fatherwould never give anyone a position they didn’t merit orhave proved their ability to have or show the passionand commitment and that is the same when it comesto family.”

The hotel business is a people-facing businessand no doubt is wrought with challenges. Inderneelexplained that in today's world, guest's have a muchlarger and active voice which means that staff need tobe agile to their needs whilst remaining confident withthe hotel's values and business vision. “One way wesucceed in being nimble, is with in-house resourcing –such as with our construction team and interior design-ers. It means we can quickly make decisions toimprove our product offering to guests. Another way, isour constant investment in IT for both our operationsand guest experience. It is also vital to move with thetimes and respond to guest demands in a responsibleway – for example, at Edwardian Group London wetake our commitment to the environment very seriouslyand we consistently adhere to responsible best prac-tice.”

With a new role comes a new vision. “The currentvision is to continue on the principles of the Group

which is to be opportunistic in seeking growthbut maintaining a strong balance sheet. As agroup we are focussing on the LeicesterSquare development where we’ve appoint-ed award-winning international designfirm Yabu Pushelberg to work for us onthe concept. We really do see this projectas transformational for the whole ofEdwardian Group London going for-ward.”

Extending some wisdom to otheraspiring entrepreneurs out there,Inderneel said, “I think it’s important tokeep having those aspirations to achieveyour dreams with both passion and com-mitment. It is important to be able to bemindful of the bigger picture and keepknock-backs or issues in perspective.”

- Rupanjana Dutta and Tanveer Mann

ASIAN ACHIEVERS AWARDS 2014Asian Voice & Gujarat Samachar36 Inderneel Singh

36-Inderneel Singh.qxp_A4 Temp 12/09/2014 16:58 Page 36

We congratulate all the winners and nominees of the Asian Achievers Awards

Afro Asian2014.qxp_A4 Temp 12/09/2014 14:21 Page 1

Billed as ‘Britain’s top divorce lawyer’ by the LawSociety, Ayesha Vardag is one of only a handfulof family lawyers to receive the Times’ accolade

“Lawyer of the Week”. She is President of Vardags, aworld-renowned divorce and family law service special-ising in substantial and complex cases often with aninternational element. Shooting to global attention insuch a short space of time whilst dealing with issues,on a day to day basis, which are considered emotional-ly demanding and extremely intimate, Ayeshaexplained that it is not easy. 'It only works because Ienjoy it. I find life very dull if its not emotionallydemanding. Rather than finding the process of hearingsomeone's troubles and empathising and draining, Ifind it very energising and it fires me up to want to fightfor them and its part of what makes sense of my lifereally.'

A staunch believer in the sanctity of marriage,what drives Ayesha is the satisfaction she gets whenshe is able to help someone. 'The thing about familylaw, it's intensely personal, its peoples' lives, people'sstories, its people's emotions, its always unpredictableand uncertain because people are different. Because Ifind people immensely interesting, it brings you rightinto the heart of their lives and it allows you to helppeople who come to us at ground zero and we startrebuilding them really.'

Therefore, in 2005, she set up her own specialistfamily/divorce law firm, Ayesha Vardag Solicitors andwith that success, the firm incorporated and becameVardags in 2010, by which point it had become the go-to firm for some of the heaviest divorce cases in thecountry.

As a specialist in Divorce, Ayesha's own personalexperience has helped her significantly with her clients.She quite candidly spoke about the effects of her owndivorce on her and her family. 'It was a very traumatictime for me and everyone concerned. I gave up work-ing to spend time with my children whilst working onmy own divorce. I worked on it quite intensely withthe Law firm that was handling it.'

Over the years, Ayesha has retained a rep-utation for aggressive litigation, commercialsavvy, fearlessness and strategic intellectualvision along with her informal and person-able style, her own life experience andpassion for her cases. This, along withthe 'rolls-royce service', she said she pro-vides for her clients, has won her animpressive high-value and high-profileclient base.

Discussing how she manages to main-tain the work and personal life balance, she

“Never let anyone discourageyou”- the Diva of Divorce



admitted that it is incredibly difficult because you neverreally stop. 'I think having your own firm means thatyou're so deeply invested that inevitably it does take itstoll on your personal time and one of the biggest chal-lenges is trying to carve out and try to protect that per-sonal time.'

Passing on some of her wisdom, Ayesha conclud-ed with a smile. 'First, never let anyone discourage you.Don't procrastinate, seize the moment. Try and do itindependently, don't borrow. You lose your power if youhave too much dependance on anyone else so its veryimportant to keep your power. Just don't care whatpeople think of you. If people find you annoying, if peo-ple don't like the fact you're becoming successful andthey rubbish you, just take it as a compliment. Finally,surround yourself with people you really trust, becausehaving that community is incredibly important. Its avery stressful business going into business alone so itsimportant to have that family around to help you.'

- Tanveer Mann

Ayesha Vardag

38-Ayesha Vardag.qxp_A4 Temp 15/09/2014 12:51 Page 38

B4U.qxp_A4 Temp 05/09/2014 16:33 Page 1

For people who dream big, obstacles always getcatapulted into opportunities. Consistently provid-ing a huge range of heavily discounted products

since 2001, the 99p stores are now a part of 2 millioncustomers' lives every week. Nadir Lalani, the founderof the 99p Stores chain has a simple yet intriguingmotto- “Bargains never go out of fashion. Even a multi-millionaire loves a bargain”.

Coming from Tanzania in 1973, his early years inthe UK were challenging as there was evident hostilitytowards Asians or non-Whites in the 1970s and he hadhis family to look after. 99p Stores was not his first ven-ture into the retail industry. Nadir Lalani previously builtup and sold two convenience-store chains, includingWhistlestop Discount Stores. As Mr. Lalani put it, “Thesilver lining in the cloud was that it was easy to capturethe convenience-store market as all grocery stores usedto close at 5 pm sharp. I tried to fill this gap of unavail-ability of grocery stores at night and kept my Food &Wine shops open till 11 pm”. The idea of 99p storeswas inspired from the Dollar stores in the US. Thisrecession-proof business idea came at the perfect timefor him.

From humble beginnings in Holloway, NorthLondon, 99p Stores now serve around 1.5 million cus-tomers each week. Mr. Lalani, along with his two sonswho co-founded the company, always had big plans forthis chain. They wanted to create a national brand.However, the exponential growth of the company insuch a short period of time did exceed their expecta-tions. “I am still amazed that we created over 5000jobs in the UK”, he quips.

But looking back in time now, the collapse of theWoolworths Group had a profound impact on thegrowth of his company. “Woolworths allowed us to

grow very quickly. They had created a gap in the mar-ket that we filled. The end of the Woolworth Groupallowed us to expand rapidly. We doubled in size in 12months from 60 to 120 stores. That was a very hecticperiod and we were expanding at the rate of opening2 stores per week”, he adds.

Even during times of competition, Mr. Lalaniupholds his simple mantra- 'No gimmicks. No tricky pro-motions. Only EDLP (Every Day Low Pricing)”. Also, hiskeen eye for detail makes his management and market-ing decisions almost foolproof. The company works onless margin when it comes to branded products com-pared to supermarkets. Their branded suppliers feel thatthis chain is easier to deal with as they do not chargelisting fees to and are in return are offered the most com-petitive prices. This is how Mr. Lalani envisioned to sellbranded products at cheap prices in his company's out-lets.

However, as expected, success does not comewithout obstacles and criticism. Some of the 'upperclasses' in the UK are staunch critics of Mr. Lalani's com-pany. In Stroud, some local government councillors andeven the residents started a petition to prevent the storefrom opening back in its initial phase. They claimed thatthe 99p store was going to have a negative impact ontheir high street. They had only 1500 residents sign theirpetition. On the opening day the store served 2000 cus-tomers and over 15,000 in the first week’s trading. Hisunwavering resolve had paid off. “I think the residentsvoted with their feet in support of us”, he said.

So what does he plan to venture into next? “Youcan hope to see an online version for 99p Stores soon”,he says.

- Charusmita and Rupanjana Dutta

Bargains never go out of fashion


ASIAN ACHIEVERS AWARDS 2014Asian Voice & Gujarat Samachar40 Nadir Lalani

40-Nadir Lalani.qxp_A4 Temp 15/09/2014 11:40 Page 40

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Cinnamon Kitchen.qxp_A4 Temp 09/09/2014 14:40 Page 1

Lolita Chakrabarti is a multitalented, award-win-ning actress and a writer, who has worked exten-sively on the stage and screen. Her most recent

success has been with her play “Red Velvet,” whichpremiered at The Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn in 2012.Red Velvet returned earlier this year before opening off-Broadway in New York. The play earned Lolita theCharles Wintour Evening Standard Award and theCritics Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright in2012. She also won the AWA Award for Arts andCulture in 2013. Her play starred Adrian Lester, her hus-band, who picked up Best Actor at the Critics CircleAward. Mr. Lester played Ira Aldridge, a 19th centuryAfrican-American pioneering actor, who playedgreat tragic and comic roles in the legitimatetheatre of that time.

As an actress, Chakrabarti trained atRADA and has worked extensively. Her the-atre credits include The Great Game:Afghanistan for the Tricycle Theatre, LastSeen for Slung Low and the Almeida(which she also contributed to the writ-ing of), Free Outgoing for the RoyalCourt and John Gabriel Borkmanfor the Donmar Warehouse.

Her screen creditsinclude The Smoke,Intruders, One Night,Vera, Outnumbered,Hustle, ExtrasChristmas Special,Holby City, SilentW i t n e s s ,Fortysomething ,Bodies, Forgivenand WPC JamilaBlake in the longrunning ITV dramaThe Bill.

Born in Hullbut brought up inBirmingham, themother of twospoke exclusivelyabout her work in each sector-stage, film, and television. “Istumbled upon Ira Aldridge,the real life character thatRed Velvet is based on. IraAldridge was extraordinary.He played Othello at theTheatre Royal in CoventGarden in 1833. He wasknighted and given a statefuneral when he died inPoland but was never

acknowledged in Britain.”Lolita runs Lesata Productions with Rosa

Maggiora and produced ‘Of Mary”, a short film, direct-ed by Adrian Lester, which won the Best Short FilmAward at PAFF, Los Angeles 2012. She is now workingon a feature film, JOY, to be directed by Adrian, whichis a modern urban tale about four seemingly uncon-nected people who are linked by a single tragedy intheir past.

Talking about this current entrepreneurial chal-lenge, Lolita said, “It's very daunting to think we have

to build the production ourselves but there'ssomething so exciting about being com-pletely in charge of it.”

With a flair for writing as well asacting, Chakrabarti feels both disciplinesfeed each other. “Acting and writing areboth about people and our relationshipsto each other and the world. Examiningwhat makes us flawed and human is afulfilling job.

“As an actor I love the challengeof getting inside the skin of a well-rounded character. It's like a jigsaw puz-zle - fitting the pieces in the scripttogether in order to create a threedimensional person the audience willbelieve.

“When I'm writing I love thefreedom of being able to take thestory any way I choose. To putthe world I know into a story.When I start writing I drive thestory forward but eventually, thestory takes over and it drivesme.”

Consistent and ambitious,she has just finished filmingThe Casual Vacancy, a threepart television drama for theBBC and HBO. It's an adaptationof JK Rowling's novel of the samename, where she plays the role ofDr. Parminder Jawanda; anuptight, very assertive, ambi-tious GP.

But which of these rolesdoes she prefer? What is herfinal career goal? Lolitaadded with a smile, “I wantto keep working in bothfields - playing strong threedimensional parts and writ-ing stories for stage andscreen that people wantto see.”

- Rani Singhand Rupanjana Dutta

Bringing stories to life


ASIAN ACHIEVERS AWARDS 2014Asian Voice & Gujarat Samachar42 Lolita Chakrabarti

42-Lolita Chakrabarti.qxp_A4 Temp 15/09/2014 12:29 Page 42

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“The Olympics was huge for me at such a youngage and it seemed like it would be all uphill since then.However, I’ve lost a fight here and there and with thatalways comes mental battles, being in training campand away from my family for large periods of timeis difficult and you have to be tough to competeprofessionally in any sport.

“Muhammad Ali was my idol andinspiration whilst I was growing up he wasamazing inside the ring and such aninspiration outside the ring too.”

Is entrepreneurship (like his father) anoption after his retirement? Amir added witha smile: “I’m not really sure what the futureholds, especially since all I’m thinking about atthe moment is my next fight. I’d love to stay

connected to the sport somehow but we’ll haveto see how that takes shape.”

- Rupanjana Dutta and Daniel Santosh



Amir Iqbal Khan, a former two time world lightweight champion, has recently been in thenews for the birth of his baby daughter. Since

the arrival of his daughter, Amir has reflected a lotabout the less fortunate children around the world whoare not as privileged as him or his family. During hisvisit to Gambia, Amir released the reality of thesituation in which children, in these third worldcountries, have to live through. Through this trip, Amir'snew perspective of the world caused him start his owncharity called the Amir Khan Foundation in which hehopes to provide food, shelter and other essentialthings that these children are deprived of. The AmirKhan Foundation with Penny Appeal is hoping tocreate a community center where hundreds of orphanscan live and be educated (www.pennyappeal.org/AmirKhanFoundation).

A strong believer of using his position 'to givesomething back', he visited Pakistan after the 2005Kashmir earthquake to hand out food parcels todisplaced children.

Like many other Pakistanis, Amir Khan'sgrandfather, Lall, came to Britain in the late 1960s. Thefamily were landowners from Rawalpindi; grandfatherKhan saw the opportunity of a better future for hisfamily in Britain and set up home in Halliwell, GreaterManchester, later bringing his wife, Iqbal Begum, andtwo sons over. Amir's father, Shah, was then seven.Shah trained as a mechanic, set up his own garage,and then had a scrapyard. He now manages Amir'scareer full-time.

In a recent interview Amir reportedly said, “Weare all hard workers. It's in the genes. We're not onesto just sit there and chill. Once I've had a rest inbetween fights, I have to go back into the gym. I've gotto be doing something with my life. My coach has toget me to slow down sometimes.”

For Khan, success is satisfying but not surprising.He goes to mosque every week, even if it's afight week. He still fasts during Ramadanand has been to Mecca for the Hajj.

But he agrees that being aboxer still remains a very rareprofession amongst Asians.Speaking exclusively with theAsian Achievers Awardsmagazine about his career,challenges and his idol, Khansaid: “It came naturally, so itwasn’t really that difficult tochoose. In fact, I feel like it haschosen me in a way. Since thenthough, it’s obviously taken a lot ofhard work and commitment tocontinue down this path and become thefighter I am today.

Working to create a better world

Amir Khan

44-AmirKhan.qxp_A4 Temp 12/09/2014 17:02 Page 44

We congratulate all the winners and nominees of the Asian Achievers Awards

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MGR Weston2014.qxp_A4 Temp 12/09/2014 14:19 Page 1

Chetna Patel is the newly appointed PrivateSecretary to Director General Consular andEconomic Julian King, at the Foreign

Commonwealth Office (FCO)– a role that puts her atthe heart of policymaking and the decision-makers.

Amidst some of the community's most inspira-tional and successful women, Chetna's enthusiasm andpassion for her field is toxic. 'In my job I've been reallyfortunate to work on some really high profile cases, forexample when I was in Manila, I worked on the crisiseffort after Typhoon Haiyan. I got to see the policy tak-ing effect but then you see the policy in the news andthat kind of buzz from knowing that you're actuallyworking on things that actually matter and people careabout, there is nothing like it.'

Born and raised in London, Chetna studied SocialPolicy at London School of Economics though, shesays, the civil service route was not in her sights at all.Instead, she took up a volunteer position straight out ofLSE at a third sector think-tank called Race on theAgenda as a policy officer, to try and understand howpolicymaking works in the real world.

Working specifically on BME communities andresearching why young people were getting into gunand knife crime led to Chetna's interest in policymakingto flourish. 'I found a way for me to engage in an issuethat I cared about and was interested in, but also to pro-fessionally understand what policy making was.’

Asking what drives her, Chetna enthusiasticallyreplied, 'The more I became engaged and understoodhow Whitehall works and what different departmentsdo, the more I realised they actually impact every per-son's lives every single day. Because I got a taste forthat, it built up an appetite, so I was keen to do moreand experience more.’

The bright and bubbly young woman has beeninvolved in a number of noteworthy causes includingworking on the public finance at HM Treasury and lead-ing efforts on electoral participation at the CabinetOffice, a role which she said was incredibly 'exciting'.

With so few Asians taking up civil service roles,Chetna is one of the exceptions. Defying Asian stereo-types, Chetna light-heartedly said, is 'one of my mis-sions in life'. With a strong backing from her family,obstacles and challenges have never been an issue.Instead, she said, 'I've had a fantastically positive expe-rience. I've never felt like anyone stood in my way,whether in my family or either to get a promotion orwhen I've gone for big jobs. I haven't felt like I've beendisadvantaged at all. In fact, I've been really encour-aged.’

Asking her how it feels to be in her new role, she

said, 'I have quite an unusual private secretary rolebecause I'm quite junior relative to the rest of theorganisation but I have a direct line into one of the mostsenior people in the office, which is great!’

Sharing her own life lessons, Chetna said,‘Consider civil service as an option, because it is a fan-tastic option. Try to reach out to people in the fieldalready. Learn about what the civil service does. As forFCO, I think its hugely exciting and unlike any otherplace I've worked in. You meet people everyday work-ing on issues that are happening in the real world. Soif you want to work in an area where you feel like you'llbe making a bit of a difference, then this is place tocome and that's why I'm here, because I feel like I wantto make a bit of a contribution.’

- Tanveer Mann

Upholding the legacy of civil services


ASIAN ACHIEVERS AWARDS 2014Asian Voice & Gujarat Samachar46 Chetna Patel



to

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We extend our warmest congratulations to all the winners and nominees of the

Asian Achievers Awards

1st Floor, Kirkland House11-15 Peterborough RoadHarrowMiddlesex HA1 2AX

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47-49-51-.qxp_A4 Temp 15/09/2014 11:41 Page 47

Swimming against the turbulent tides of recessionand navigating through the ever-changing land-scape of the legal market are features which

define London law firm, QS Axiom Stone. Unlike itsmany contemporaries, QS Axiom Stone has not merelysurvived the recent recession but grown through it,since its birth in 2008. The force behind this young,vibrant firm is its Managing Partner and one of thefirm’s original founders, Pragnesh Modhwadia. Fromhumble beginnings, to handling cases worth $1.5Billion, his dream has become reality and has thrived inthe past six years.

An entrepreneur, a legal professional, yet an ideal-ist, Pragnesh thinks it is vital for everyone to have goalsand dreams which they strive for. “Idealism is great butthis has to be coupled with hard work and persever-ance to actually achieve anything in life.”

Even as a student, Pragnesh exhibited the willing-ness to face those challenges that most of his peerswould have acquiesced to. Whilst living in rented stu-dent accommodation, Pragnesh found himself in a dis-pute with his Landlord who had refused to return hisrental deposit. Pragnesh refused to accept the injus-tice of the situation and successfully sued theLandlord for the monies owed to him. This experi-ence gave Pragnesh confidence and defined hispurpose for pursuing law. From then on he con-tinued his journey to complete his qualificationswithout any reservations or fear.

Pragnesh attributes a major part of hisaccomplishment to his family and friends. Heespecially expresses his admiration for hisbrother, his tireless work and devotion toeverything he does, who has always encour-aged Pragnesh and helped him with the ini-tial funding for his entrepreneurial venture.

His take on the glass-ceiling is particularlyunique- “I think there are always barriers or restrictionsto anything actually worth achieving . I don’t see theseas glass ceilings but challenges to be overcome.Everyone faces their own challenges.” He is also astrong believer of the fact that the true test of a personisn’t what they do when they achieve something, it’swhat they do when they fail.

Apart from work, he enjoys the thrill of sportsespecially golf, taking part in events both socially andfor charity. “This year, our firm has sponsored and takenpart in a number of football, cricket and golf tourna-ments; all of which I have enjoyed thoroughly”.

Is he a ‘hunter’ or a ‘gatherer’? Answering to thatPragnesh replied casually, “I’m a hybrid.”

“Depending on the situation, I can be both, butmy natural instinct is to hunt. It is essential to knowwhat you want in life and be determined enough to getit. It is this attitude that I apply daily, whether to pro-mote the business or to achieve our clients’ goals, only

success will do!” He feels that the most rewarding part about his

work is the satisfaction of happy clients when the firmexceeds their expectations, “Legal advice isn’t alwaysthe easiest or the happiest service people want to seek,so having a pleased client means we’ve succeeded”, headds. But rewards do not materialise without a fairshare of risks and Pragnesh agrees. Setting up a lawfirm, as a newly qualified solicitor, in 2008 just as therecession began wasn’t the easiest decision but heheld his belief that “risk is essential for success”although he explains that risk should be moderatedwith careful planning and hard work.

He envisions that with the support of the firm’sclients and business partners QS Axiom Stone willgrow into a national brand in the near future. And we’repositive it will!

- Charusmita

Risk is essential for growth



Pragnesh Modhwadia

48-Pragnesh.qxp_A4 Temp 12/09/2014 17:03 Page 48



47-49-51-.qxp_A4 Temp 15/09/2014 11:42 Page 49

Over the last 25 years, Nisha Tandon OBE, hastoiled hard to give a platform to ethnic minori-ties such as Asians to express themselves

through art, music and culture. Her untiring efforts tookthe shape of a company named Artsekta. Nisha found-ed this company a quarter century ago and today it hasfirmly established itself as a leading ethnic arts compa-ny in Northern Ireland.

By kickstarting community groups, helping deliverlearning-systems to schools and supporting long-termart projects, Artsekta has supported ethnic minoritiesmake Northern Ireland their home. Nisha chose art asa tool for she believes that art has no barrier. She says,“Through visual art, music, cultural seminars and a pas-sion for cookery, people could talk freely about seriousissues like religion and that provided a real educationalplatform for people”. She has also helped tackle tracesof racism in Northern Island. This idea was fundamen-tal to the foundation of Artsekta. Nisha's main objectiveconcerning the initiative was to create a shared spacefor people to exhibit their art, beyond the idea of whothey are or where they are from.

Owing to being a new venture, there were numer-ous tough challenges which Nisha and her companyhad to face. Being one of the largest Arts organisationsin Northern Ireland, there were issues to be tackled atstrategic level. Despite the improvement in serviceshelping foreigners settle and expressing themselves,the hinderance of racism remained. People still thoughtof foreign artists as minority, leading to unfairly lessrecognition of these artists. After great hard work ontrying to improve the effectiveness of the ethnic arts,things have improved, but as Nisha puts it, “There is stillconsiderable work to be done”. Her work has not goneunnoticed. Her noble initiative for a non profit organisa-tion has led to a widespread acclaim for itself from allover Europe. In the month of June, she won the UKAsian Women of Achievement Award for contributionto arts and culture as well as the highly regarded OBEaward. She is the first Asian woman in NorthernIreland to win an OBE and that is somethingNisha takes great pride in.

“It was beyond my belief that thehard work that I have put in for the last25 years (she has been part of theNorthern Ireland for 37 years butworked in the community section forthe last 25 years, is being recog-nised at such a high level. I couldnot believe it, especially the Asianwomen's award because of othernominated shortlisted names;there were some well-known andrecognised people, who werealmost celebrities in their fields. Soit was astounding to hear that I

won. I was not sure that I had chances of winning thisaward and it was a heartening experience.” There isoptimism for the future of Artsekta, Nisha explains. TheAsian entrepreneur believes that Artsekta will continueto expand and develop into a major business venture.However, she also stated that “Expansion can only hap-pen when there is good funding. Enterprises need cap-ital. Right now we are bidding for our own place wherewe can experience ethnic arts and culture in a spe-cialised environment. In England you have suitable pub-lic settings like South Bank and Notting Hill. I hope thatwithin a year there would be a similar forum withinIreland to showcase ethnic arts.”

An acknowledged businesswoman with a gener-ous heart, Nisha Tandon OBE also has some advice foraspiring future entrepreneurs, “Never give up, despitechallenges. Never let your motivation slip. There will beobstructions but if you have a vision, stick to it withfocus. Recognise the problems and resolve them headon. It might sound cliched but success has no short-cut”.

- Charusmita and Rahul Lakhani

Success has no shortcut


ASIAN ACHIEVERS AWARDS 2014Asian Voice & Gujarat Samachar50 Nisha Tandon

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Established for over 30 years

47-49-51-.qxp_A4 Temp 15/09/2014 11:42 Page 51

Ason, a friend and a brother. But before anythingelse, he was a soldier. And he did what soldiersdo- 'Service before Self'. A union flag drape, a

bell tolling to mark the cortege's arrival, flowersthrown on to the hearses and a grieving butproud family, a soldier is never alone evenin death. The Ministry of Defence calledit a 'tragic crash'. The family mournedtheir son. Friends still cannot believethe loss of Rak, as they called him.But his spirit lies in their hearts.Flight Lieutenant RakeshChauhan, a 29 years young offi-cer of the Royal Airforce left usfor his heavenly journey on 26thApril 2014. He was a co-passen-ger in a helicopter withIntelligence Corps colleagueLance Corporal Oliver Thomas andits three-man crew- CaptainThomas Clarke, Warrant Officerclass 2 Spencer Faulkner andCorporal James Walters, of the ArmyAir Corps. Their Lynx helicopter crashed inAfghanistan's Kandahar Province.

More than a thousand mourners includingservice personnel, school-children and relatives- linedthe streets to pay their respect as the cortege passedthe base's memorial garden in Leicester, where his fam-ily lives. His father, Kishore Chauhan, remembersRakesh's childhood dream, “The Air Force had been hisdream since he was 11. He loved it and what gave megreat pride is that my son lived and loved his job”. Flt.Lieutenant Chauhan's schooling years were spent inthe private King Edward's School in Birmingham. Hisformative graduation years were shaped by the presti-gious St. Andrews University in Scotland. Today we arehere to not mourn his passing away, but to celebratethe exceptional, inspirational and aspiration life that helived. An honour that he held high, an attitude that hemotivated his peers with and an impeccable sense ofduty, there are many things that we will remember himfor. Kesh, Flt. Lieutenant's older brother, spoke abouthis extraordinary achievements at such a young age,“He accomplished much more than many in his short29 years. Rakesh was extremely proud to serve hiscountry and especially of his appointment at the RAFand commission”.

So what was Rakesh like, besides being a devot-ed soldier? “His sense of humour was contagious andyou could guarantee he would be at the centre of anylaughter in the room”, his Commanding Officer was

reported as saying. He added, “He was certainlythe best Intelligence Branch officer that I

have known, his presentations were con-sidered essential viewing by aircrewand others alike”. Rakesh's father,Kishore Chauhan, owns Milan'sSarees, a shop in Leicester's GoldenMile and the family continues to bean epitome of strength and inspi-ration to the community memberswho hold them in high regard.City Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby, whois acquainted with the Chauhanfamily, said, “I know the family astheir shop and business is such awell established and respected part

of the local business community inBelgrave. I am deeply saddened to

hear of the loss of a dear son and sucha fine young man. Our hearts go out to the

family”.

Fine young men of our community have been apart of prestigious institutions here in the UK with ambi-tious success stories but the grandeur of a soldier isunparalleled. Today, we honour Flight LieutenantRakesh Chauhan, who symbolises dedication, patriot-ism, spirit, pride and most importantly, our hopes.Through this humble tribute, we hope to give a con-crete shape to our strength as a community and toinspire us with great sense of humility and sportsman-ship. Through him, we also pray for soldiers like him,who died brave, but live on forever in our hearts.

Requiem of a fallen star


52

Flt Lt Rakesh Chauhan

The community came together in Leicesterto bid farewell to this fallen hero

Rakesh Chauhan's coffin is brought out of the hearse

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AIW04-Ragamama 8/3/07 1:45 PM Page 1



Business Community AwardWinner: Nat Puri, PuricoGroup of Companies

Shortlisted NomineesJanak OndhiaKishor PatelPradeep Pandya

Young Entrepreneur of the YearWinner: Dalip Kumar,Founder Travelin Style

Shortlisted NomineesSanjay VaderaShamir ShahVikkas Puri

Lifetime Achievement Award

Winner: Firoz Kassam,Entrepreneur, Hotels andB&Bs

Shortlisted NomineesBobby GrewalBhanumati PipariaChandrakalaben Patel


Winner: Monty Panesar,Cricketer

Shortlisted NomineesOwais ShahSaima HussainKiran Matharu


Winner: Naynesh Desai,Solicitor

Shortlisted NomineesPuneet AroraRitu SethiDr Satya Narayan Agarwal

Achievement in CommunityService

Winner: Rati Shah, FundRaiser Social Service

Shortlisted NomineesDr Ramesh Gandhi,Mahendra JadejaMadat Ahame,


Winner: Capt. AshviniSharma, Regional DirectorAirIndia, UK

Shortlisted NomineesJiva OdedraReena Ramesh ShahParm Sandhu

Woman of the Year

Winner: Jasuben Seghani,Shop Owner

Shortlisted NomineesShahin BadarShashi Kiran Gossain Honey Kalaria


Winner:Chandubhai Kanani

Shortlisted Nominees Vijay Ratan Manubhai Makwana Gopalbhai Popat andInduben Mehta

New Market Entrant

Winner:Majoj Ladwaand Vikas Pota– FoundersSaffron Chase

Shortlisted NomineesSuresh VagjianiSuresh KotechaJes KaurRaj Bakrania

Lifetime Achievement

Winner: Arjan Vekaria

Shortlisted NomineesK.B ShankarYogesh MehtaDr Mohan Kaul

Achievement in Media, Arts& Culture

Winner: Dr Avatar Lit,founder of Sunrise Radio

Shortlisted NomineesMira TrivediRakhi SoodAshish Joshi

Business in Community

Winner: Manish Shah,Partner at SigmaPharmaceuticals PLC

Shortlisted NomineesMr. DK KewalramaniPramod Thakkar

Achievement in Sports

Winner: Hunisha BharatPatel, Martial Arts

Shortlisted NomineesMonty PanesarSajid MahmoodPrince Naseem Ahmed


Winner: Nadir Lalani,Founder of 99p Stores

Shortlisted NomineesKantesh (Ken) PopatRavi GillArvind Halai

Innovation in Business

Winner: Arvind Malhotra,Owner of GapGuru

Shortlisted NomineesShashi GossainNikunj Shah

Woman of the Year

Winner: Dr UshaMenon, Lecturer atUCL, Head ofGynecological CancerResearch Centre

Shortlisted NomineesDipa JethwaManisha TankCII Anjana Patel


Winner: Viral Acharya,Founder of Pratham USA& Pratham UK

Shortlisted NomineesRaj LoombaShaunaka Rishi DasVinod Kapashi

WINNERS of 2006 WINNERS of 2007

Lookback

AAA-Magazine-Look-BackAK.qxp_A4 Temp 15/09/2014 10:31 Page 54




Winner: Renu Patel,Performing Arts

Shortlisted NomineesHoney KalariaMira KakadRavi Sharma

Woman of the Year

Winner: Shriti Vadera,Parliamentary UnderSecretary of State forInternational Development

Shortlisted NomineesMrs Deepakben PatelGita JobanputraNilam Patel


Winner: Nishma Gosrani,Consultant atPriceWaterhouseCoopers

Shortlisted NomineesAnuj ChandeRaj JoshiDr Akbar Ali Malik

Business Person of theYear

Winner: Yogesh Mehta,Managing Director ofAmertrans Shipping

Shortlisted NomineesBemal PatelHasmukhbhai Patel

Dolar Popat

Young Entrepreneur of theYear

Winner: Kuljinder S.Bahia, Director ofSouthall TraveltShortlisted NomineesRajesh AgarwalDevin Chawda

Suraj GokaniWoman of the Year

Winner: Kamal Hothi,Lloyds TSB

Shortlisted nomineesManula SoodSangeeta PatelAnita Chopra Salima Mawji

WINNERS of 2008

Achievement in Healthcareand Education

Winner: Dr Dak Patel,Director London SAM

Shortlisted NomineesDr Reshma Ramesh GandechaArun PatelDr Satyanarayan Agarwal


Winner: Dr Rami Ranger,Chairman of India, PAK, UKFriendship Forum

Shortlisted NomineesVinod KapashiBharesh Trivedi

Gordhandas S Patel

Sports Personality of theYear

Winner: MaiyuranRatneswaran, Fencing

Shortlisted nomineesShivam ShahRashmi YadaveManjit Singh

Achievement in Media, Artand Culture

Winner: Ravi Sharma,Radio Ambassador India &UK

Shortlisted NomineesJay KumarNikita ThakrarParesh Shah

Uniformed and Civil Services

Winner: PC Mebs Ahmed,Chairman of Lancashire,Black Police Association

Shortlisted NomineesSupt. Raj KohliDr. Kadaba S V DLAjit Patel

WINNERS of 2009

Civil Service and Uniform

Winner:Capt. Sandip Patel

Shortlisted NomineesNatubhai Somabhai PatelShilpa SolankiBhimji Vekaria


Winner: Anil ManeklalSolanki

Shortlisted nomineesKirit PatelThariq MohammedKoolesh Shah


Winner: Narendra Patel

Shortlisted NomineesP.S. KangNaynesh DesaiSatish Parekh


Winner: Manjul K VasantMBE

Shortlisted NomineesCheryl DhillonZafar SiddiqueMohammad Asghar


Winner: Rishi Lakhani

Shortlisted NomineesSnahal PatelNina KabraBhavisha Patel

Media, Arts and Culture

Winner: ChamanlalChamanShortlisted nomineesJasvinder Singh BalAshish Amrit KotakJeetsScreen Idolz

Achievement in CommunityServicesWinner: Vraj PankhaniaShortlisted NomineesMadhurikaben R. PatelChhotalal MaganlalLimbachiaChhotalal NarottambhaiChauhan

Woman of theYear

Winner: Uma A Mehta

Shortlisted NomineesDr Monika KhannaParveen HassantHoney Kalaria

Lookback


Editor's award for Visionand Enterprise

Dr Vijay patel and Dr Bhikhu Patel

Young Business persondemonstrating sustained

business growth

Amit Patel

Best Overall Enterprise

Subaskaran Allirajah

Leadership in Professions

Bobby Karia

Achievement in Health Care

Dr Nora Vyas



WINNERS of 2010


Winner: Rajeev Bagga

Shortlisted NomineesAshwin BhattShivam ShahSamit Patel

Excellence & Innovation

Winner: Frank Khalid

Professional ofthe Year

Winner: Vijay Goel

Shortlisted NomineesProf S Homer VanniasinkaDr Nora Vyas

Dr Sandeep Mane


Winner: Anjali Bulley

Shortlisted nomineesBujor J AvariMark SumariwallaRajini Vaidyanathan

Achievement inCommunity Services

Winner: Ranjan D.Manek, OBE

Shortlisted nominees Cllr Filly Maravala Darshanlal KalhanManeck A Dalal, OBESanjay Jagatia

Woman of the YearWinner: Pavani Reddy

Shortlisted NomineesJasuben MistryShalina AlabakshShashi Kiran Gossain

Business Person of the YearWinner: Arun Panchariya

Shortlisted NomineesDr Vijay Patel and Dr Bhikhu PatelHemang ShahRaj K. Aggarwal OBE


Winner: Ravi Bopara

Shortlisted NomineesAshpal Kaur BhogalMichael ChopraZesh Rehman


Winner: Riz Navsarka

Shortlisted NomineesAbhishek Varma Jason and Dennis SinghDigwaSujan Shah


Winner: Sukhpal SinghAhluwalia

Shortlisted NomineesSanjiv MehtaSubir PatelAnil Sehgal

Uniformed and Civil Services

Winner: Bala Mehndran

Shortlisted NomineesAliya RashidAswin RanaZaheer Ahmad

Asian Voice Special Awardfor Ingenuity in Business

Sanjiv Mehta

Overall BusinessPerformance and Innovation

Jason and Dennis Singh Digwa

WINNERS of 2011Professional of the Year

Winner:Bhupendra Jasani

Shortlisted NomineesAnuj ChandeDalip PuriSujata Sharma

Lookback




Achievement in CommunityServices

Winner: Kishan Devani

Shortlisted NomineesChelliah Yogamoorthy MBEAsif IqbalParam Singh

Young Entrepreneur of the Year

Winner: Shamir Shah

Shortlisted NomineesIshil MehtaZima ParmarPriyesh Rawal


Winner: Akaash Bhatia

Shortlisted NomineesNetan SansaraMandip SehmiBulbul HussainGaz Choudhry

Woman of the Year

Winner: Shahnaz Hussain

Shortlisted NomineesUrvasi NaidooMishal HusainDr Sonal Minocha


Winner:Subaskaran Allirajah

Shortlisted NomineesAshok RabheruMansoor PopatDr Diwan Rahul Nanda

Young Entrepreneur of theYear Uniformed and Civil

Services

Winner:Amjad Mazhar Hussain

Shortlisted NomineesTejinder AjimalGurcharan Singh Dhesi MBEDarra SinghLt Bhavna Parmar


Winner: Bobby Singh

Shortlisted nomineesNasif AliShiamak DavarSurjit Singh Ghuman


Winner: Rajiv Ouseph

Shortlisted NomineesAshpal Kaur BhogalIsa GunhaManjit Singh


Winner: Major TikendraDal Dewan

Shortlisted NomineesFauzia and NooruddinAftabKamleshben Patel

Anjum AnwarYoung Entrepreneur of the

Year

Winner: Mitesh Patel

Shortlisted NomineesShazia AwanNina KabraAbhishek Varma


Winner: Shindo Barquer

Shortlisted NomineesDalwardin BabuPC Asif SadiqHitesh Oza

Woman of the year

Winner: Ruby McGregor –Smith

Shortlisted NomineesCllr Mimi Harker OBEYashmin MistryDevi Kolli


Winner: Shernaz Engineer

Shortlisted NomineesMandeep AtwalManoj PatelNish Kotecha


Winner: Dr Rami Ranger

Shortlisted NomineesRajan AminRuby McGregor-SmithAli Kurji

Editor's Award for Vision &Enterprise

Dinesh Patel &Savitaben(Cofresh)

Editor's Award forResearch and Compilation

Dr Kusoom Vadgama


Winner: Prof. SunilShah

Shortlisted NomineesAbhishek SahdevRajay NaikDr Minaxi S. Desai CBEProf. Alimuddin Zumla


Winner: NileekaGunawardene

Shortlisted nomineesRay PanthakiRishi RichDr Sathi Ludhianvi

Lifetime Achievement

Winner: Lord GulamNoon, MBE

Shortlisted NomineesBaroness Shreela FlatherSir Anwar PervexNadir Lalani

WINNERS of 2012

Lookback



Winner: Ruqsana Begum

Shortlisted NomineesKiran MatharuSaddiqa ShanVishal Ladwa


Winner: Chief SuptSurjeet Manku

Shortlisted NomineesShami Chakrabarti CBESatya MinhasRavi Chand CBE


Winner: Nandita Parshad

Shortlisted NomineesArun BatiaProfessor Soraya DhillonMBEDr Ajay Gupta


Winner: Rajeeb Day

Shortlisted NomineesAruna SethFaiza SethNick MadhavjiRajeeb Dey


Winner: Firoz Tejani

Shortlisted NomineesDilesh MehtaThembalathRamachandranMumtaz Khan

Woman of the Year

Winner: Farida Gibbs

Shortlisted NomineesMeena Pathak OBEKamal BasranBaljinder Boparan

International Personalityof the Year

Smt Hema Malini MP

International Personalityof the Year

Kevin Pietersen MBE

Special Editor's Award forOutstanding Services

Through Legal Profession

HH Judge Sir Mota SinghQC



WINNERS of 2013Achievement in Media, Art

and Culture

Winner: Seeta Indrani

Shortlisted NomineesNavin KundraKiran ShahAmol Rajan

Achievement in Community

Winner: Professor NainaPatel, OBE

Shortlisted NomineesCharan Kanwal SekhonDorab Erach Mistry OBEPiara Singh Aulakh MBE

Lookback

sports & related eventscorporate events & recognitions

academic achievementscommunity - religious - cultural & charity events

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SUPPLIERS OF ASIAN ACHIEVERS AWARDS

Editors Award for Vision &Enterprise

Samrat Bhandari

Lifetime Achievement AwardWinner: Srichand Hinduja &

Gopichand Hinduja

Shortlisted NomineesFauja SinghAnil AgarwalNasser Hussain OBE

Editor's Award

Anita Choudhrie

Lawyer of theYear

Mitesh Patel


C & C Alpha.qxp_A4 Temp 28/08/2014 10:39 Page 1

Documents

Asian Achievers Awards 2014