Lloyds TSB Jewel Awards shine across the Midlands
Saturday 14 July saw the central installment of the Lloyds TSB Jewel Awards. Now in their 5th year the awards reward entrepreneurial excellence in the Asian community. For many of our front line relationship managers this wasn’t their first attendance at these awards, they were well versed in how the awards operate and how to get the maximum return. Others had attended the cultural awareness and pre-networking training which armed them with the tools to help them nurture their clients well before the event, on the night and the during the follow up period.
As a result the evening was a great success. Networking, lead generation and progress on deals continue to come in, supporting the positive feedback that the Asian Markets team has received. The quality and importance of the winners has increased year-on-year providing better value opportunities for the attendees.
Winners of the central awards include:
Business & Commerce Excellence Jewel Award
Mohammed Iqbal of Tile Giant, which he acquired just over 3 years ago with 2 stores. It is now trading with 29 stores, with a further 11 stores planned over the next 9 months.
Entrepreneur Excellence Jewel Award
Waseem Saddique achieved success with Mobile Connections as it quickly double in size, and this growth continues today, with a turnover of £39m generated in 2006/07.
Healthcare & Education Excellence Jewel Award
Asha Khemka has within the space of 20 years gone from being a mature student to becoming the Principal and Chief Executive of West Nottinghamshire College, which is one of the biggest colleges in Europe with 20,000 students and 1,200 staff.
Professional Excellence Jewel Award
Iftkhar Ahmed joined Eversheds in 1991 as a trainee solicitor after completing his Law Society finals at The College of Law, London. He is now an equity partner in the firm's real estate department – the largest real estate department in the UK.
Public Service Excellence Jewel Award
Charanjit Mehat was promoted to Healthcare Senior Officer at HMP Moorlands in Doncaster in 1999. She then gained promotion to the rank of Healthcare Principal Officer (the highest uniformed rank within the Prison Service) at HMP Birmingham in 2002. She is the first Asian female to get to Governor grade through the ranks.
Retail Food & Franchise Excellence Jewel Award
Shelim Hussain MBE, Chairman of the Eurofoods Group he has become a respected businessman within the Bangladeshi Community due to his acute commercial acumen and sensitive approach to business. This has been recognised by numerous awards and honours, including an MBE for service to business in Wales.
Lifetime Achievement Award
Hafiz Muhammad Yaqoob is the pioneer of the Halal food industry in UK and Europe. He was the first British Muslim businessman to set up in Birmingham Wholesale Market, selling Halal products nationwide, establishing Halal abattoirs, serving the community for over 41 years through the wholesale and export industry. In 1995 he created retail outlets, known as ‘National Halal Centres’, which have now been recognised by leading supermarkets.
Truett Tate, Group Executive Director, Wholesale & International Banking, Lloyds TSB, said: “Through the Lloyds TSB Jewel Awards we want to demonstrate the achievements of the community across the public and private sector. But that is just the start. We have established ourselves as a bank that is dedicated to serving Britain’s communities. Our Islamic financial products and our India Banking Service are just two examples of initiatives we have launched to cater for the needs of our increasingly diverse population.”
Nominations for next year's Lloyds TSB Jewel Awards are now open and can be made through Kamel Hothi, Asian Markets Director, Kamel Hothi