ASIAN BUSINESS AWARDS 2006
(19 April 2006)

The tenth Eastern Eye Asian Business Awards 2006 took place at The Grosvenor House Hotel London on Wednesday 19th April 2006. Winners of the Asian Business Awards 2006 included 'Newcomer of the Year' won by Avnish Goyal of Hallmark Healthcare, the 'Entrepreneur of the Year' Award was won by Rita Sharma of BestatTravel.co.uk, 'ACAS Award' won by Euro Car Parts, 'Community Award' given to Lord Paul of Caparo and the most coveted award, 'Business of the Year' went to Mike Jatania of Lornamead.

More than 1000 guests, public figures, MPs and millionaires, such as Mike Jatania, Keith Vaz MP, Sir Gulam Noon and Lord Swaraj Paul were entertained by contemporary Indian dance company Angika. Special guests included, Jimmy Choo, Dr Surinder Hundle, Faria Alam, Kemal of Big Brother fame, Honor Blackman, Dr Nish Joshi, soap stars Rudolph Walker, Pooja Shah and Ameet Chana of Eastenders, Zesh Rahman, Sophiya Haque, Claire Nazir of GMTV, Sofia Hayat and Seeta Indrani from The Bill.

The winners of the Eastern Eye Asian Business Awards 2006, in order, are as follows:

• Community Award: Lord Swraj Paul
• Entrepreneur of the Year: Rita Sharma
• Young Achiever of the Year: Karl Sandhu
• Newcomer of the Year: Avnish Goyal
• ACAS Award: Euro Car Parts
• Business of the Year: Mike Jatania

COMMUNITY AWARD - LORD SWRAJ PAUL

Baron Paul of Marylebone, better known as Lord Swraj Paul, was raised to the Peerage in October 1996. A leading businessman and an active member of the House of Lords, he is firmly committed to promoting social and education policies. Born in Jalandhar, India, in 1931, he married Aruna Vij in 1956.

Paul was educated at Punjab University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA, from where he graduated with a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering. He left MIT in 1952 to join the family business in India, the Apeejay Surrendra Group, founded by his father.

Paul came to Britain in 1966 to seek medical help for his seriously ill younger daughter Ambika. Following her death in 1968, he decided to stay and work in the UK and founded Caparo, the UK-based industrial company that specialises in the manufacture and supply of steel-based engineering products for industry.

Caparo is best known for its ability to acquire and turn around existing businesses. Today the group's interests include steel, engineering, materials testing, hotels and the Caparo Innovation Centre, established in collaboration with the University of Wolverhampton. The past year has seen phenomenal growth as well as an increase in the price of steel. Caparo has undergone extensive expansion in India, the US and in Britain.

Lord Paul is actively involved in many charitable organisations, including the Ambika Paul Foundation, a charitable trust set up in memory of his daughter, and established the Ambika Paul Children's Zoo at London Zoo. This modest man who does not flaunt his wealth has reached the pinnacle of the establishment and broken many barriers. His three sons, Akash, Amber and Angad are responsible for the day-to-day running of the group but Lord Paul chairs the company he founded. We value the Paul family's worth at £450 million and appears 3rd in the Top 20 Richest Asians.

ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR - RITA SHARMA

Rita is the founder and Managing Director of www.BestAtTravel.co.uk alongside her husband Rahul, who is the Finance Director of the Company. The business was founded back in 1986 from very humble beginnings. Today the brand has become a byword for luxury holidays in online travel. The Company is powering ahead, generating profits and growing significant market share in the online domain.

They are not ruling out the possibility of a public listing in the future. Rita was born in Punjab, India and grew up in London. Rita left University at the beginning of her first term to go and work instead of continuing with her studies to gain experience so that she could pursue her dream of starting up her own business one day.

Her role model and inspiration was her late Mother. Till today she confesses that her parents were her first and most powerful teachers and she owes everything that she is today to the strong foundation they gave her in shaping her view of right and wrong and a sense of personal responsibility. As well as juggling a full time career she has managed to bring up two teenage kids and that is the role enjoys first and foremost.

She is also on the board of TiE UK which is a voluntary non profit making organisation devoted to fostering entrepreneurship via networking, education and mentoring. Last December she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate for her contribution to Business and Commerce. The Sharmas Are worth an estimated £95 million and appear 18th in the Top 20 Richest Asians list.

YOUNG ACHIEVER OF THE YEAR - KARL SANDHU

Karl Sandhu started business at a very young age as a way to make ends meet. Completely inspired by his father Manjit Sandhu, Karl and his brother Babs would travel to the various markets all over London selling everything from music tapes to lamb chops. His business acumen started at the age of 14 but the real business started in 1996 when Karl acquired a derelict building in Hanwell West London, which was located a short distance from a small Property Company Vistastar Lettings, he started 3 years earlier.

This was the springboard to a totally new level of business. Karl was a member of a health club around this time and saw an opening in the market for a new generation of Health & Fitness Clubs. The site was located on a High Street and managed the design and construction of this 4 million pound construction. With no previous history in the leisure industry Karl had to learn the business at break lightening speed. From Hanwell the business then moved to Rainham Road South in East London. Today this is one of the best-known Health & Fitness clubs in this area. A Grade 2 Star Listed building on the High Street in Harrow was the next opportunity.

All the original features of the building were retained in this £7,000,000 pound development, as was the £250,000 original Wurlitzer Organ. As with the other clubs this business is now going from strength to strength. His latest venture is a £15,000,000 Hotel and Health & Fitness Club in Hounslow Central next to the High Street. Currently under construction the facility includes all the latest in Gym technology and a Hotel that will have 5 star facilities. He is now worth £50million.

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR - AVNISH GOYAL

Having achieved a BA Hons in Accounting & Finance at Newcastle University, Avnish joined Coopers & Lybrand in 1988. He left in 1991, after qualifying as a Chartered Accountant, to develop further the family's relatively modest portfolio of commercial and residential property throughout London and Essex with his two older brothers. In 1997, Avnish wanted a new challenge and bought his first care home in Pontypridd, South Wales.

Very quickly he realised that high quality homes offering high quality care would form the foundations of a successful and rewarding business. In 1991, Avnish embarked on Hallmark Healthcare's first major construction. Hallmark went on to buy and build more quality purpose built homes and will invest a further £25m in 2006 on a new-build programme adding around 500 beds to the portfolio. He was thrilled to see his company ranked number 51 in the Sunday Times 100 Best Companies To Work For in 2006.

ACAS AWARD - SUKHPAL SINGH (EURO CAR PARTS)

Sukhpal Singh started Euro Car Parts 25 years ago is the largest independent supplier of car parts in the UK aftermarket. From humble beginnings in North London the winner of this award now employs nearly 1,000 people and has a turn over exceeding £90 million per annum. This astounding growth has only been possible because of the hard work and involvement of our winner and all it's employees and the ability of Euro Car Parts to take the lead when new opportunities present themselves. This combination of commitment and entrepreneurial management has made the success story that is Euro Car Parts.

BUSINESS OF THE YEAR - MIKE JATANIA, LORNAMEAD

The self confessed serial entrepreneur and his family are valued at £650 million with Lornamead and their property portfolio and named 1st in the Top 20 Richest Asians in the UK. The acclivitous rise of the Jatania family, with Mike at the helm, is conclusive proof of the strength of the Asian family business. The Ugandan born Mike Jatania and his three brothers, George, Vin and Danny, own and run the cosmetics giant, Lornamead, which has become a multi-national brand owner and acquisitions have been made from, amongst others, Unilever, Sara Lee, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Henkel Schwarzkopf.

Lornamead specialise in acquiring products the multinationals want to discard, strengthening their management teams and marketing them. The Lornamead Group recently announced that it had acquired Yardley from Proctor and Gamble for an undisclosed sum. The Jatania's have integrated this business and the products are now sold in over 60 countries worldwide. The Jatania family has strengthened their US operations, their African arm with its traditional, mature businesses is doing better with greater political and economic stability and they have made major inroads to Europe.

To conclude, Gurmeet Khangura, Chairman of Ethnic Media Group, which publishes the Eastern Eye, says: ''We are proud to celebrate 10 years of honouring the Asian men and women in the UK business market. They have not only established themselves as important contributors to the nation's economy, but their innovation and hard work have further inspired younger entrepreneurs striving to achieve the same levels of success for themselves.'