Mohsin Issa

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

: and Zuber Issa

: are British-Indian

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busin ...

brothers and businessmen who both co-founded

Euro Garages EG Group is a British retailer headquartered in Blackburn, United Kingdom, which operates filling stations, convenience stores and fast-food restaurants in Europe, the United States and Australia. The group was created through the combination of ...

(EG), a chain of petrol filling stations and convenience stores that operate in Europe, the United States and Australia. As part of a consortium with

TDR Capital TDR Capital is a British private equity firm headquartered in London, England. History TDR Capital was co-founded in 2002 by Manjit Dale, Stephen Robertson, and Tudor Capital.

, the brothers are also a majority stakeholder in supermarket

Asda Asda Stores Ltd. () (often styled as ASDA) is a British supermarket chain. It is headquartered in Leeds, England. The company was founded in 1949 when the Asquith family merged their retail business with the Associated Dairies company of York ...

. EG's annual sales across 10 countries is currently valued at €20 billion.

Early lives

Mohsin and Zuber Issa were born in July 1971 and June 1972 respectively in

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...

into an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

family to parents Vali and Zubeda who came to the United Kingdom from Bharuch,

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in the 1960s to work in the

textile industry The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of yarn, cloth and clothing. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry. Industry process Cotton manufacturi ...

and then ran a petrol pump. They were educated at

Witton Park High School Witton Park Academy is a coeducational secondary school located in the west of Blackburn, Lancashire, England. Witton Park is for children aged 11–16. It is within the boundary of Witton Country Park, to the west of Blackburn. A levels are ...

. Their childhood was a modest one, growing up in a terraced house in Blackburn.

Careers

Before founding Euro Garages, the Issa brothers took out a

lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

on a garage, and saved up the money to buy their first petrol station. They co-founded Euro Garages in 2001, with the acquisition of a single petrol station in Bury, Greater Manchester. Mohsin Issa runs the business day to day while brother Zuber Issa is responsible for strategy and acquisitions. The company grew through a series of

acquisitions Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

. In February 2018, it was announced that Euro Garages would acquire 762 convenience stores in the United States from

Kroger The Kroger Company, or simply Kroger, is an American retail company that operates (either directly or through its subsidiaries) supermarkets and multi-department stores throughout the United States. Founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cinci ...

. In October 2020,

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

announced an agreement to sell a majority stake in Asda to a consortium of the Issa brothers and

private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a ty ...

firm

TDR Capital TDR Capital is a British private equity firm headquartered in London, England. History TDR Capital was co-founded in 2002 by Manjit Dale, Stephen Robertson, and Tudor Capital.

. Through their Monte Group company the Issa brothers are investors in the sports brand Castore. In April 2021 it was announced that the Issa brothers purchased British fast food chain Leon via EG Group, comprising more than 70 restaurants across the UK, in an acquisition reportedly worth up to £100 million. In 2022, the brothers attempted to acquire pharmacy chain

Boots A boot is a type of footwear. Boot or Boots may also refer to: Businesses * Boot Inn, Chester, Cheshire, England * Boots (company), a high-street pharmacy chain and manufacturer of pharmaceuticals in the United Kingdom * The Boot, Cromer St ...

, however its American owners

Walgreens Walgreen Company, d/b/a Walgreens, is an American company that operates the second-largest pharmacy store chain in the United States behind CVS Health. It specializes in filling prescriptions, health and wellness products, health information, a ...

decided to retain it and took it off the market. Later in the year, the brothers attempted to acquire

McColl's McColl's Retail Group is a British convenience shop and newsagent operator, trading under the trading names Morrisons Daily and McColl's (for convenience stores), Martin's (newsagents and pound shops) and RS McColl for some stores in Scotland ...

but lost out to

Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, as well as one in Gibraltar. The company is headqua ...

. Attempts to acquire Caffè Nero have also fallen through.

Personal lives

The Issa brothers are both British-Indians, British-Gujaratis and British-Muslims. Mohsin Issa is married to Shamin, and they have a son and a daughter, both of whom work for Euro Garages. He still lives in Blackburn and alongside his brother are building five mansions for themselves and their relatives just ten minutes' drive from where they grew up. He along with his brother invested in a £25 million mansion in

Knightsbridge Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End of London, West End. ...

, in Central London.

Controversy

Zuber Issa and his brother Mohsin Issa have come under criticism for their tax affairs along with having "appalling" safety standards at a company they co-owned. Criticisms include a lack of transparency compared to other companies of the same size.

Accolades

Mohsin Issa and Zuber Issa were each appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the

2020 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2020 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...

for services to business and charity.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Issa, Mohsin and Zuber 1971 births 1972 births Living people British people of Indian descent British people of Gujarati descent British Muslims English people of Indian descent English people of Gujarati descent English Muslims British businesspeople of Indian descent 21st-century British businesspeople English billionaires Conservative Party (UK) donors People from Blackburn Commanders of the Order of the British Empire