British Pakistani wins prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise

Hamza Azhar Salam

LONDON: A British Pakistani entrepreneur’s company has won the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise in 2020.

Zohaib Tariq’s company is an awarding body which provides English language and other qualifications for people who want tangible evidence of their language skills.

Tariq, who has increased the company’s sales by 300 per cent in the last three years has also been invited to a royal reception hosted by the Queen to receive this prestigious accolade. Speaking exclusively to The News, he said: “I feel immensely honoured and proud to receive this prestigious award as a Pakistani.” Only 20 companies of this category were given this award, he said. He said his company is recognised as an awarding organisation by Ofqual (Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation), the regulator for qualifications, examinations and assessments in England also provides Islamic Banking qualifications.

Speaking on his company’s success, Tariq said: “This is another proud moment for our company, our staff and stakeholders. Winning this award symbolises the hard work, dedication and loyalty from all who have worked with our organisation over the last three years.”

Tariq mentioned how other British Pakistanis could also succeed in the UK if they worked hard, followed the rules and regulations of the UK and went ahead with a solid plan for their business.

The Gazette of the Queen’s Awards states Tariq’s company qualification portfolio “ranges from Entry Level provision through to Level 7 across a range of subjects such as education, teaching, business management, creative industries and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)”.

It says the British Pakistani’s company provides accreditation services for both regulated and unregulated provision which meets the needs of several stakeholders, which includes training providers and employers. The citation says the company has expanded its network at the rate of five new centres per quarter. In doing so, this has enabled the company to increase its overseas sales by almost 300 per cent in three years.