Glasgow, 11 November 2009

The Scottish Asian Business Awards 2009 paid tribute to Asian business men and women, from business giants to budding entrepreneurs, who are at the forefront of their industry. Over 500 people attended the awards night on 11 November 2009 in Glasgow, including: First Minister, Alex Salmond; Secretary of State for Scotland, Jim Murphy; Baroness Sayeeda Warsi and entrepreneur; Charan Gill. First Minister Alex Salmond said: "The continued success of our Asian community enriches Scotland as a whole and the achievements of our Asian businessmen and women make an outstanding contribution to the strength of our economy.

"As a veteran of this event, I feel privileged to have the opportunity to pay tribute to these worthy winners. I am sure that the example set by these innovators will continue to influence and inspire people across the country to follow in their footsteps."

Secretary of State for Scotland Jim Murphy said: "Everywhere I go in Scotland I see members of the Asian community running both large and small businesses, and always looking ahead to the next opportunity. Despite the recent challenging economic conditions they are still full of enthusiasm and ideas. "It is this forward thinking approach to business that has helped build a solid foundation for their communities to thrive and to contribute to the wider community in which they live."

The Winners of the Scottish Asian Business Awards 2009

Young Achiever(s) of the Year
Bobby & Preet Sandhu (Happy Lets), presented by Navjot Singh, Global HR Communications Manager for Shell.

Bobby & Preet Sandhu (Happy Lets). Husband-and-wife (27 and 26 respectively) team, Bobby and Preet, manage a £60million property portfolio across Glasgow and Lanarkshire and are currently embarking on an expansion drive to increase their portfolio from 800 to 5000 properties within five years.

Small Business of the Year
Lets Direct, presented by Geoff Leask, Head of Operations, for PSYBT.

Lets Direct established in 1989 is one of Glasgow's oldest and largest professional Property Management Firms. Multinational teams in the UK and the UAE ensure the process of letting property is dealt with promptly effectively and professionally

Franchisee of the Year
Baguette Express - Azeem Arshad
presented by Hans Director of Goldstar Chefs.

Azeem Arshad - Baguette Express. Azeem, 23, has two Baguette Express outlets in Glasgow with a number in the pipeline. Over the summer of 2009 he completed a deal to become the Master Franchisee for Baguette Express in the North East England

Business of the Year
Little Einstein's - Deepak Poddar
presented by Senior Partner at Clydesdale, Andrena Murdoch.

Little Einstein's - Deepak Poddar. Little Einstein's nurseries are in the top five chains in Scotland, providing care for over 750 children per day, with 7 sites throughout Scotland. The group now employs more than 250 people across Scotland and has a turnover in excess of £5m.

Community Award
Nari Kallyan Shangho,
presented by Assistant Chief Constable George Hamilton of Strathclyde Police.

Nari Kallyan Shangho (NKS) is a health and welfare organisation, established in 1987, that works to improve the health and well-being of South Asian women and children living in Edinburgh.

Businesswoman of the Year
Poonam Gupta (PG PAPER), presented by MD of I.A Contracts Iftikar Chaudhary

Poonam Gupta (PG PAPER). In 2003 Poonam started PG Paper Company Ltd. PG Paper actively seeks solutions to industrial waste problems and has secured many business partnerships around the world. In 2008-09, turnover almost doubled to more than £10 million, despite the challenging economic conditions; turnover is expected to grow a further 50% in the next two years.

Businessman of the Year
Arshad Ali (Scottish Centre for Excellence in Dentistry),
presented on behalf of IOD, by Jim Shaw Senior partner from Clydesdale Bank

Arshad Ali (Scottish Centre for Excellence in Dentistry). The Scottish Centre for Excellence was unveiled in April 2009. The £3m, 7240 sq ft surgery has been shortlisted in the prestigious Private Dentistry Awards held in London for two categories. The practice has 37 members of staff and had a turnover of £2.8m in the last financial year.

Lifetime Achievement
Mr Maqbool Rasul presented by Secretary of State for Scotland, Jim Murphy

Mr Rasul arrived in the UK from his home town of Jagrawan Faisalabad in Pakistan in 1964 and gained a university degree in Civil Engineering with Honours from Paisley College of Technology (now known as the University of West of Scotland) in 1976. After working in the engineering field for 2 months Rasul realised that it wasn't for him and started his own business opening grocery shops.

The shops proved successful and being the entrepreneur that he is Mr Rasul decided to dedicate part of these stores to movie rental. By 1987 Mr Rasul seized the opportunity and sold his grocery stores and concentrated solely on Global Video. Through his hard work and dedication the business went from strength to strength and at its peak Rasul had 268 stores employing over 1400 staff throughout Scotland, England and Wales.

Mr Rasul knew that there was a finite period of time for the movie rental market and concentrated all his efforts in being as successful as possible with Global Video as well as preparing for the future. Rasul and his family now own and manage a very large and diverse portfolio of properties in prime locations in the UK and abroad along with many other personal investments in other sectors.

Even after his massive success which included being in the UK's top 100 Entrepreneurs list, Mr Rasul holds his community close to his heart and is no stranger to charity work. He generously donated towards the building of Glasgow Central Mosque where he is presently a Trustee and was integral in building the mosques community hall. He is/has been also largely involved in various charities such as the U-Care Foundation and EMEC (Ethnic Minority Enterprise Centre). The Rasul Charitable Trust was also set up in 1995 which generously donates to various charities and good causes' world wide.

Entrepreneur of the Year
Yasmin Khanam, presented by First Minister Alex Salmond

Yasmin Khanam - DPI Investments. Five years ago, Yasmin started DPI Investments, which provides high net worth clients with a start-to-finish service with their overseas investments. DPI offers a vehicle that allows individual investors to have a guaranteed exit strategy when investing in larger products in the UAE or other desired areas.