Surinder Arora ( Punjabi: ਸਰਿੰਦਰ ਅੜੋਰਾ, born September 1958) is an English

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 ...

businessman of

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 ...

n descent in the hotel sector. He concentrates on hotels near airports, making a speciality of providing rooms for aircrew, and has close links with

British Airways British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a populati ...

and a strong personal interest in aviation

Early life

Arora was born in September 1958 in the

n state of

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

to parents who had been displaced from the India/Pakistan border town of

Fazilka Fazilka, also known as Bangla, is a city and a municipal council in Fazilka district of Punjab, India. In 2011, it was made the headquarter of the newly created Fazilka district. The Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline (TAPI) project originating in Tu ...

and were about to emigrate to the United Kingdom. Arora was left with an aunt and uncle whom he believed to be his parents until he re-joined his real parents in the UK at the age of thirteen. Arora's family had a strong work ethic and he has described his mother as being very ambitious for him. In 1988, Arora became a salesman for the

Abbey Life Abbey Life Assurance Company Limited is a life assurance business based in London also with an office in Bournemouth. The company has been closed to new business in 2000. Abbey Life was formerly a public company listed on the London Stock Exchan ...

insurance company, becoming a sales manager and achieving a rating as the company's second-best salesman after one year.

Hotel career

In 1993, Arora left Abbey Life to develop a "B&B" (

bed and breakfast Bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. Bed and breakfasts are often private family homes and typically have between four and eleven rooms, wit ...

) to serve airline staff at

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...

. The hotel that replaced the B&B won a contract from British Airways in 1999. In 2004 Arora won the franchise for the

Accor Accor S.A. is a French multinational hospitality company that owns, manages and franchises hotels, resorts and vacation properties. It is the largest hospitality company in Europe, and the sixth largest hospitality company worldwide. Accor op ...

Sofitel Sofitel Hotels & Resorts are a French hotel chain of luxury hotels based in Paris, France, and owned by Accor since 1980. Founded in 1964 in France, Sofitel quickly developed worldwide to reach more than 200 properties. In 2008, Sofitel became a ...

brand and bought the 500-bedroom Le Meridien London Gatwick hotel to rebrand as the Sofitel London Gatwick. Sofitel London Heathrow, a £180m 600-bedroom sister hotel was announced the same year. Today Arora owns hotels that provide a total of over 5500 bedrooms including franchises from

Hilton Hilton or Hylton may refer to: Companies * Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Inc., a global hospitality company based in the United States that owns several hotel chains and subsidiary companies containing the Hilton name ** Hilton Hotels & Resorts, fla ...

and

Holiday Inn Holiday Inn is an American chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia. and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson, who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee that year. The chain was a division ...

. In September 2021, the Home Secretary,

Priti Patel Priti Sushil Patel (born 29 March 1972) is a British politician who served as Home Secretary from 2019 to 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she was Secretary of State for International Development from 2016 to 2017. Patel has been the Me ...

was accused of breaking the Ministerial Code when it was revealed that she had brokered a lobbying deal in a secret meeting with Arora and the head of BA. In 2017, Arora was awarded the Asian Achievers Awards for "Business Person of the Year"

Business style

Arora refers to members of his business as "like family". Turnover of staff, especially maids, is much lower than the high hotel industry average. He is known to value long-term business relationships.

Net worth

In 2009, he was ranked at 388 in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' list of the richest people in the UK with a net worth of £140 million. In 2013, ''

The Sunday Times Rich List The ''Sunday Times Rich List'' is a list of the 1,000 wealthiest people or families resident in the United Kingdom ranked by net wealth. The list is updated annually in April and published as a magazine supplement by British national Sunday news ...

'' (STRL) estimated his worth to be £356 million. In May 2019, following a revaluation of his hotels, his net worth rose by £780 million to £1.129 billion.

Politics and public life

Arora was a public supporter of the Labour Party under

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

, though he opposed the

2003 Iraq War The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

. He is currently a member of the

New Enterprise Council The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. It is the current governing party, ...

, a group of entrepreneurs that advises the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

on business policy. He is also a member of the

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Skills And Employment Board, and deputy chairman of

Wentworth Golf Club Wentworth Club is a privately owned golf club and country club in Virginia Water, Surrey, on the south western fringes of London, not far from Windsor Castle. The club was founded in 1922. Beijing-based Reignwood Group bought the club in Septe ...

. Arora is married to Sunita Arora with three children, and lives in Wentworth, UK.

References

External links

Surinder's interview
on

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arora, Surinder 1958 births Businesspeople from London Indian emigrants to England Living people English people of Punjabi descent British hoteliers Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom British billionaires Conservative Party (UK) donors