Hinduja family top Asian Rich List 2021
BRITISH ASIAN businesses increased their wealth and rose to unprecedented challenges during the pandemic – as the latest Asian Rich List exclusively reveals.
The annual, glossy publication shows the total estimated wealth of the 101 profiled in this year’s list – the first since the global pandemic took hold in March 2020 – has gone up by 21 percent to $133.4 billion.
Topping the list is the Hinduja family. They have seen their wealth increase by $3.35bn, over the year, from $33.5bn.
The Asian Rich List, which was released on Friday (19) at the Asian Business Awards in London, uncovers exemplary tales of success – but also shows a re-setting and a renewed commitment to compassionate values at a time of huge loss and suffering during the global pandemic.
There are 15 billionaires on the list – two up on the previous list in 2019. Among those joining the exclusive club of billionaires are brothers Vijay Patel and his brother Bhikhu Patel of Waymade plc. One a pharmacist and the other an architect, respectively, they joined forces and are serial entrepreneurs.
The Patels started with a single pharmacy and continued to move up the chain into manufacturing and distribution. They are refugees from Kenya and came with their single mother to the UK. Vijay still remembers working in a Wembley chip shop to fund his studies.
Hotelier Jasminder Singh is another billionaire who started out in relatively humble circumstances with just a single hotel and an accountancy qualification. Despite his Edwardian Group taking a major hit as a prominent London luxury hotelier, he defiantly continued to build the $670 million luxury hotel, The Londoner, in Leicester Square.
It is a statement hotel in many ways and perhaps most singularly represents a rejuvenation and reopening for the capital itself.
The Londoner received rave reviews when it opened its door to the public this autumn and has continued to attract plaudits everywhere.
Elsewhere, the Asian Rich List shows that while businesses in food, drink, pharmacy and property didn’t suffer losses – those in hospitality, leisure and care bore the brunt of difficulties and continue to face acute staffing issues.
Friday’s glittering Asian Business Awards – a unique gathering of some of the community’s most successful business owners, took place in the grand ball room of The Londoner.
There are 11 new entries as the Asian Rich List uncovers those who tend to have a low personal (media) profile, but who have a myriad of business interests and have created thousands of jobs cumulatively.
The highest among these is Sandy Chadha (40=) of AIM listed Supreme Limited, a Manchester-based wholesaler of batteries, vitamins and vape products.
He is estimated to be worth $469m. He got a hand in business through his father who drove a mobile retail van around seaside resorts, selling watches and the like to tourists.
Pharmacist brothers Danesh and Sanjay Gadhia (67) have built a powerhouse Leicester-based pharma business, Morningside, and are estimated to have a fortune of $255m. Aly Janmohamed (81) runs many high street food brand outlets – from KFC to Starbucks – and is worth $174m.
Property, leisure and care homes magnate Meenu Malohtra (85) is a man who started with very little, but has a knack of building businesses from the very bottom-up. His Malhotra Group plc is based in Newcastle and his wealth is estimated to be $168m.
The Hinduja family, who run a conglomerate of international concerns, remain Britain’s wealthiest Asians. Perhaps unsurprisingly, and with more of an eye on the post-pandemic situation, the conglomerate actually took on people during the crisis.
Gopichand Hinduja, one of the three brothers behind the group, told the Asian Rich List they bucked the global trend and didn’t take people off the payroll.
‘On the contrary, we have added to the staff. We haven’t cut any. Covid has been very, very difficult for many families, who have lost near and dear ones,’ he said.
‘We also lost many of our executives. But we find our employees, who number 170,000 globally, are loyal. They are committed and have a passion to grow. They are the real pillars of our group.’ The group is focusing on building a new generation of electric buses and also have assets in banking, lubricants, real estate, energy and cyber security.
Their newest jewel in the crown is one of the most exclusive properties in London – the Old War Office (OWO). It will open as a Raffles Hotel (the brand’s first in the UK) next year and is now also marketing 85 private apartments which have already gone on sale, as OWO Residences, and are the first of the brand’s type in Europe.
The apartments will have the same access to the hotel’s extensive amenities. The OWO Raffles Hotel will house nine restaurants and bars, a spa with 20m pool and another grand ballroom.
Bestway Group named Asian Business of the Year
One of Britain’s leading wholesale companies won the coveted top award at the Asian Business Awards, hosted by Eastern Eye.
It was named Asian Business of the Year at a gala event held at the newly opened Londoner in Leicester Square.
Founded by Sir Anwar Pervez and his school friends, the group runs not only the country’s second largest wholesale chain but also the Well Pharmacy Group as well as Pakistan’s second largest cement business and the country’s third largest bank.
It grew from a single wholesale depot in London to a business whose revenues are now in excess of $5.3 billion.
In all, 10 awards were presented on the night as the Asian Business Awards returned to their pre-Covid format after pandemic lockdown restrictions last year.