LONDON: The Bestway Group members of the family Sir Anwar Pervez, Zameer Chaudhry and Younis Sheikh have risen in the list of the richest Asians in Britain and their ranking overall among the richest businesses in Britain has also climbed.
According to the latest edition of the Sunday Times Rich List, the members of the family of the Bestway Group Sir Pervez and Zameer Chaudhry, the CEO of the group and leader of the Conservative Friends of Pakistan, have been estimated at £3.534 billion and £1.755 billion, respectively. Sir Anwar Pervez is up £439 million and his nephew Zameer Chaudhry is up £548 million compared to last year – taking them both to the billionaires’ list. Sir Anwar Pervez has been listed in the cash and carry category while his nephew Zameer Chaudhry is in the category of cash and carry and pharmacies. Their business interest in Pakistan – cement and banking – is not taken into account for the UK ranking and their ranking could be much higher if their Pakistan worth was also added.
In the latest list of 40 richest Asians in the UK, Sir Anwar Pervez is placed at number 6 and Zameer Chauhdry is placed at number 12. Younis Sheikh, Chairman ofthe Bestway Wholesale, is estimated at £609 million, up from £189 million last year. The other Pakistani origin family is Adalat and Arshad Chaudhary with £540 million worth.
Sir Pervez, 84, emigrated from Gujar Khan in Pakistan aged 21 and worked as a bus conductor, starting Bestway in 1976. In the overall list of the richest Asians, Indians overwhelmingly dominate the list of 40 richest people. Sri and Gopi Hinduja – known as Hinduja brothers - are the richest Asians in the UK, according to the new edition of the Rich List.
The new edition reveals the wealth of the 1,000 richest people in Britain in its 31st annual edition. There are 81 Asians among this year’s richest 1,000. The Hinduja brothers are top of The Sunday Times Rich List overall, making them the richest in the UK for the third time, in both Asian and overall categories. An increase of £1.356 billion in their wealth in the past year takes their wealth to a staggering £22 billion.
Robert Watts, Compiler of The Sunday Times Rich List, said: “The rise in the number of Asian entrepreneurs is one of the striking themes of the Sunday Times Rich List since our first edition in 1989. Back then only five entrants in our inaugural list were from ethnic backgrounds – this year 81 Asian individuals and families make our 1,000 entries. We are finding Asian men and women have built successful businesses, from fast fashion and discount retail to pharmaceuticals and petrol stations.”
Overall, the 20 richest Asians are worth £94.864 billion this year, a rise of £12.101 billion from £82.763 billion in 2018. The 14.6 percent increase in net worth is one of the biggest increases in wealth across any Rich List category this year.
The full list of richest Asian includes in order: Sri and Gopi Hinduja and family, £22bn; David and Simon Reuben, £18.664bn; Lakshmi Mittal and family, £10.669bn; Anil Agarwal, £10.57bn; Sri Prakash Lohia, £5.402bn; Sir Anwar Pervez and family, £3.534bn; Samuel Tak Lee and family, £3.005bn; Simon, Bobby and Robin Arora, £2.26bn; Bavaguthu Shetty, £2.083bn; Lord Paul and family, £2bn; Sunil Vaswani and family, £1.969bn; Zameer Choudrey and family, £1.755bn; Navin and Varsha Engineer, £1.7bn; Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, £1.689bn; Farhad Moshiri, £1.575bn; Raj, Tony and Harpal Matharu and family, £1.321bn; Mohsin and Zuber Issa, £1.2bn; Nadhmi Auchi, £1.176bn; Mahmud Kamani and family, £1.163bn; Surinder Arora and family, £1.129 billion, £780m; Jasminder Singh and family, £1.1bn; Christina Ong and family, £1.05 billion; Bhikhu and Vijay Patel, £800m; The Jatania brothers, £643m; Ranjit and Baljinder Boparan, £640m; Younus Sheikh and family, £609m; Tony Fernandes, £587m; Abdul Bhatti and family, £540m; Adalat and Arshad Chaudhary, £540m; Amit and Meeta Patel, £450m; and at least two dozen more.