Rags to riches... brothers go from back streets of Blackburn to £25m mansion
THeY were brought up in a terraced house after their father came to Britain to work in the textiles industry.
Four decades on, Mohsin and Zuber Issa’s journey from the back streets of Blackburn to the top of the property ladder appears complete.
The self-made billionaires, who own euro Garages, europe’s biggest independent forecourt firm, have just bought a £25million Knightsbridge mansion – although they are unlikely to move in any time soon.
The spectacular Georgian property, which features one of the swish london district’s biggest gardens, has been a building site for years after the previous owner ran out of money while extending the basement. now estate agents reckon that when Mohsin, 46, and his 45-year-old brother have finished work to create a so- called iceberg basement descending three storeys to include a garage with a vehicle lift, a swimming pool, gym, music room, cinema plus three additional bedrooms, the whole property could be worth £80million.
The original home has grand reception rooms with a master bedroom suite taking up the whole second floor.
The top two storeys have five further bedrooms with kitchen, reception room and formal dining room on the ground floor – giving access to the restored garden. It is a far cry from the two-up, two- down the brothers grew up in – which even today is worth just £115,000 – after their Indian parents came to lancashire in the 1960s to work in a woollen mill.
By contrast, their new, 22,000sq ft Brompton Square home is 25 times the size of the average British home.
The Issa brothers started euro Garages 22 years ago with a £ 150,000 site in Bury. The firm is now the eu’s largest independent fuel retailer, with annual sales of £5billion.
Managing director Mohsin and chief executive Zuber are reckoned to be worth £1billion – up by £300million in a the past year.