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THE EMPIRE STRIKES IT RICH...
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According to the rich list, the Asian influence on British business is astonishing in its sweep. From the entrepreneurial types such as the Jatania brothers to Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin at the helm of a FTSE 100 company, and now Asian companies stalking their European rivals, this vast continent is making its presence felt at every level of the UK. Asian-owned businesses in London have a turnover of about £60 billion a year, while real Asian wealth increased by 69 per cent between 1998 and 2005, compared with UK GDP up just 23 per cent.
Their influence lies beyond commerce. According to the list, Parmjit Dhanda, Labour MP for Gloucester and Keith Vaz, Labour MP for Leicester East are among the powerful British Asians in politics. Others figuring in the list in politics are Ashok Kumar, Labour MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, Priti Patel, prospective Conservative candidate for Witham in Essex, Baroness Uddin, Labour peer, First Muslim woman to enter the Lords in 1998 and Khalid Mahmood, Labour MP for Perry Barr.
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Name:
Jasminder Singh
Total Wealth: £360 mn
Origin: India
Businesses: Luxury hotel |
Name:
Firoz Kassam
Total Wealth: £240 mn
Origin: Tanzania/India
Businesses: Hotels and leisure |
Name:
Nat Puri
Total Wealth: £130 mn
Origin: India
Businesses: Packaging, plastics |
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The list deliberately excludes entities such as Britain’s overall richest man Lakshmi Mittal and the third richest, the Hinduja brothers, saying it eschewed wealthy Indians based in the UK but whose business interests are largely overseas.
Dhaliwal says she found it exciting compiling the list. Says the lecturer, “The bravery of it all; you see these entrepreneurial heroes, they never stand still, they are all going forward. It’s that pace, that inner confidence. We’ve been here three decades. There is no inherited wealth on the list. They have really used their business acumen and broken through a lot of barriers and prejudices.”
Discerning critics, however, say the new list’s at least partial cheer for the cornershopwallah is out of sync with an earlier report written by Dhaliwal identifying “a significant shift” in Asian wealth creation away from being shopkeepers to high-tech service providers.
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more...
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June 2007
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