Mohammed Ishaq "Mo" Chaudry (born 21 September 1960) is a British Pakistani businessman. He spent his early years in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, before travelling to England and building an estimated fortune of more than £100m, confirming himself as one of the most influential and successful businessmen in the country. Chaudry is notable for his time as chairman of

WaterWorld ''Waterworld'' is a 1995 American post-apocalyptic action film directed by Kevin Reynolds and co-written by Peter Rader and David Twohy. It was based on Rader's original 1986 screenplay and stars Kevin Costner, who also produced it with Charl ...

aqua park, from 1999 to the present day, and for his M Club fitness centres. In 2018, he acquired a majority stake in Pulse Group, the leisure equipment and provision giant partnering more than 10,000 leisure facilities in 32 countries across 5 continents. He also appeared in the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

TV series ''

Secret Millionaire Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controvers ...

'' and has made a number of other TV appearances. He was the manager of World's Strongest Man

Eddie Hall Edward Stephen Hall (born 15 January 1988) is an English media personality, actor, boxer, and former strongman. He won the World's Strongest Man 2017 competition. Hall has also won national competitions such as UK's Strongest Man, Britain's St ...

and sponsors Paralympic medal-winning rower Ian Marsden.

Early life

Mo Chaudry was born in the

Rawalpindi District Rawalpindi District ( Punjabi and ur, ) is a district located in the northernmost part of the Punjab province of Pakistan. Parts of the district form part of the Islamabad Rawalpindi metropolitan area. Rawalpindi city is the district capi ...

.http://www.mochaudry.co.uk/wp-content/themes/mo-chaudry/downloads/News/asian_lite_profile.pdf He is the son of strongman and ex-soldier Iqbal Chaudry. At the age of 8 he moved, with his family, to

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...

, England, where he attended Denbigh Junior and then Beech Hill High School. Upon first moving to England, Chaudry could not speak a word of English (only Punjabi) and coped with negative attention by developing a combination of both fighting and communication skills. When his father began a mini-supermarket business, the family moved to a bigger home in

Telford Telford () is a town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, about east of Shrewsbury, south west of Stafford, north west of Wolverhampton and from Birmingham in the same direction. With an est ...

, Shropshire. Mo won a place at Wellington Grammar School and later attended

New College, Telford New College Telford was a sixth form college situated in Wellington, an area within Telford, Shropshire, England. During December 2017 the merger between Telford College of Arts and Technology, and New College Telford, was officially certified b ...

, where he passed his O-levels and A-levels. Following this, he graduated with a degree in

sports science Sports science is a discipline that studies how the healthy human body works during exercise, and how sport and physical activity promote health and performance from cellular to whole body perspectives. The study of sports science traditionally inc ...

from Madeley College of Physical Education, part of North Staffordshire Polytechnic. After graduating, Chaudry started work in the financial services industry, firstly as an insurance canvasser for General Portfolio http://www.mochaudry.co.uk/wp-content/themes/mo-chaudry/downloads/News/FT_REPORT_29.03.08.pdf and then setting up his own financial services business. He made his first million, as an independent financial adviser and property investor, by the age of 30.

Ventures

WaterWorld

In 1999, whilst seeking a potential business investment, Chaudry bought the failing

aqua park from

The Rank Group The Rank Group is a gambling company based in the United Kingdom. Rank was involved in the cinema and motion picture industry until 2006, and continues to use the Gongman logo originally used by the Rank Organisation's film distribution subsidi ...

, for £1.5 million. Starting a major £10 million refurbishment, Chaudry quickly made WaterWorld a popular attraction. He managed to make a profit in the first year and has continued to do so every year since. The WaterWorld complex now receives over 400,000 visitors annually and is regarded as the most profitable water-based visitor attraction in the UK. Chaudry has continued to expand and develop Waterworld and in 2018 announced plans for four new rides as well as vast expansion of the site, housing an 18,000sqft golf facility as well as the relocated M Club premium gym. An outdoor ‘boot camp’ area with jogging and running tracks will also be created, while the site will be linked to the Trent and Mersey Canal, creating a new pedestrian access. The scheme will create 60 jobs and bring an extra 150,000 visitors to the attraction.

M Club Spa and Fitness

In May 2011, it was announced that Esporta Health Club in Festival Park, Stoke-on-Trent, would close; leaving 2,500 club members looking for an alternative and causing the loss of over 40 local jobs.2,500 members are affected by closure of club
/ref> As a member of Esporta for 12 years, Chaudry put in a successful takeover bid for his new venture – M Club Spa and Fitness. He reopened the club within two months.

Personal life

Whilst working as a bouncer at The Place nightclub in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

, Chaudry met his wife Ann. They got married on 5 March 1987 and have three daughters.) Chaudry and his wife currently live in the Staffordshire countryside. In 2008, Chaudry became the only person to have received honorary degrees from both Staffordshire universities in the same year (namely

Keele University Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...

and

Staffordshire University , mottoeng = Dare to know , type = Public , endowment = £70 million (2015) , administrative_staff = 1,375 , chancellor = Francis Fitzherbert, 15th Baron Stafford , vice_chancellor = Professor Martin Jones , ...

). Two years later, he was awarded the '

Star of Pakistan The Nishan-e-Pakistan ( ur, , , ''Order of Pakistan'') is the highest civilian award of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It is awarded for "those who have rendered services of highest distinction" to the national interest of Pakistan. Nishan i ...

' (the highest civil award) at the Pakistani Achievement Awards, which recognises individuals of Pakistani origin for excellence and positive contributions to the image of Pakistan, and who act as best example of Britishness. In recent years, Chaudry has become a campaigner against injustice, taking a stand against

forced marriage Forced marriage is a marriage in which one or more of the parties is married without their consent or against their will. A marriage can also become a forced marriage even if both parties enter with full consent if one or both are later force ...

and attempting to join the

British National Party The British National Party (BNP) is a far-right, fascist political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Wigton, Cumbria, and its leader is Adam Walker. A minor party, it has no elected representatives at any level of UK gover ...

to highlight their racist constitution.

Charity work

In 2015, Chaudry was part of a team which rowed 500 nautical miles from Tower Bridge in London to the Eiffel Tower in Paris to raise money for the Donna Louise hospice. Chaudry is also founder of the M Club Foundation, set up to help local good causes and youngsters realise their dreams. To raise funds for the

National Deaf Children's Society The National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS) is a British charity dedicated to providing support, information and advice for deaf children and young people, their families and professionals working with them. The Society campaigns for improvement ...

, he participated in a desert bike ride in the Middle East. Chaudry founded and supports the Al Amir Foundation School in his home village in Pakistan – a middle school for around 200 children. Chaudry provided land for the school and financed its start-up. Chaudry is an Ambassador for The Princes' Trust and on the speaking Bureau for Mosaic (one of

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

' Charities). As part of Prince Charles's Seeing is Believing programme, in 2010, Chaudry toured Pakistan and visited areas affected by floods.

''Secret Millionaire''

Chaudry appeared in the second series of the UK television programme, ''

'', on

(first broadcast on Wednesday 12 December 2007). A reality television show; it documented Chaudry going incognito into the Harehills district of

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

– home to the city's largest Asian and ethnic community – and donating £30,000 to good causes.

Step Up

In conjunction with Mitchell Business and Enterprise College, Chaudry set up Step Up;Step-Up Challenge , Mo Chaudry , Mitchell Business and Enterprise College
/ref> a pilot mentoring project, designed to inspire community cohesion, raise aspirations and tackle unemployment. Step Up provided students with an opportunity to work at

and other businesses in Stoke-on-Trent.

Sport

Chaudry's natural sporting talents were put to the test at university, where he won a silver medal in weightlifting at the 1982 Student Olympics and bronze in 1983. An avid cricket player; while studying at New College, Telford, he won caps for

Warwickshire County Cricket Club Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Warwickshire. Its T20 team is called the Birmingham Bears. Founde ...

(under 19s). Later, as a player for Shifnal CC, Telford, he won full Shropshire CCC caps.BBC – Mo Chaudry sponsors North Staffordshire cricket
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaudry, Mo 1960 births Living people People from Rawalpindi People from Newcastle-under-Lyme Pakistani emigrants to the United Kingdom Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom British businesspeople British businesspeople of Pakistani descent