Iqbal Ahmed ( bn, ইকবাল আহমেদ; born 4 August 1956) is a

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

-born

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

. Based in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, he made his fortune importing shrimp. His two companies, Seamark and Ibco, have extensive interests in

shipping Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...

, hotel and real estate development,

hospitality Hospitality is the relationship between a guest and a host, wherein the host receives the guest with some amount of goodwill, including the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. Louis, chevalier de Jaucourt describes ...

, and food. Their success turned him into one of the United Kingdom's richest men. He is also the highest ranked

British Bangladeshi British Bangladeshis ( bn, বিলাতী বাংলাদেশী, Bilatī Bangladeshī) are people of Bangladeshi origin who have attained citizenship in the United Kingdom, through immigration and historical naturalisation. The term c ...

to be featured on the ''Sunday Times'' Rich List.

Early life

Ahmed was born in Balaganj Thana, Sylhet District,

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Myanmar, wi ...

(now

). In 1971, at the age of 15, he moved to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He attended the City College in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

, and a few years later he joined his family's business located in

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...

, which his brothers Kamal and Bilal joined later after the business expanded.

Career

Since March 1992, Ahmed has been CEO of the Seamark Group, which he founded with his brothers. The company Ibco is a supplier to the catering trade, and Seamark is the frozen-food processor. He also owns a hotel development, a Thai restaurant and bar called the Vermilion and Cinnabar (opened 14 November 2007), on Hulme Hall Lane which is worth £5 million, close to the City of Manchester Stadium. In 2004, Seamark and Ahmed's brothers made a combined profit of £5.1 million on £108 million. The Ahmed family featured in the ''Sunday Times'' Rich List 2006, listed at number 511 with a total net worth of £110 million. In 2007, however, the rank fell to 574, and in 2008 to 644 at £120 million. Ahmed and his brothers were twice listed at number 20 in Top 20 richest Asians in UK with a net worth of £88 million in 2006, and of £90 million in 2007. Ahmed and his family's Manchester-based business has a £200 million revenue across the city, with a workforce of 2,000 in Bangladesh, which is where he was born. The products are exported across

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

and America, as popular brand names such as Mr Prawn, Lily, Classic and Tiger. In 2001, a new sales office was created in the United States to distribute products in North America, located in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

and in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. He is popularly known as 'Mr Shrimp' or 'King Prawn' by the British community. In 2006, Ahmed was nominated by The British Frozen Food Federation to represent their interest and concerns as a member of the Ethical Trading Champions' Group, which was set up as part of the Government's Food Industry Sustainability Strategy. In 2007, Ahmed was invited to join an economic think tank, the New Enterprise Council, by

George Osborne George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born Gideon Oliver Osborne; 23 May 1971) is a former British politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the ...

. Over the years he has played an active role in a number of government committees and advisory bodies. They include the Department of Trade and Industry's Southern Asia Advisory Group; the Competitiveness Council and the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

's BOND initiative, which provides UK companies with low-cost introductions to potential business partners in key developing international markets.

Awards and recognition

In 2001, Ali was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the

2001 New Year Honours The 2001 New Year Honours List is one of the annual New Year Honours, a part of the British honours system, where New Year's Day, 1 January, is marked in several Commonwealth countries by appointing new members of orders of chivalry and recipient ...

for his services to international trade. Ahmed was recognised for services to import and export at the Legends of Industry Award at the Hilton Manchester Deansgate hotel. In June 2012, he won the international entrepreneur of the year category in

Ernst & Young Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewat ...

's North region Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, held at The Lowry Hotel. In January 2013 and 2015, he was nominated for the Businessman of the Year award at the

British Muslim Awards The British Muslim Awards are an annual award ceremony that honours the success and achievements of British Muslim individuals, groups and businesses. It was established in 2013. Overview The British Muslim Awards was founded by Oceanic Consult ...

. In December 2014, he was awarded by the

UK Trade & Investment , type = Non-ministerial government department , nativename = , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = UKtrade.svg , logo_width = 190px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = Department for Business, Enter ...

(UKTI) for contributing to Britain's export.

Personal life

Ahmed lives in

Wilmslow Wilmslow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England, south of Manchester city centre. The population was 24,497 at the 2011 Census. History Toponymy Wilmslow derives its name from Old ...

, Cheshire. His brothers Bilal and Kamal live nearby. His hobbies include travelling, playing golf, tennis and swimming. Ahmed also runs his own foundation to help and improve the lives of the poor in his native Bangladesh and is also the founder chairman of the

NRB Bank NRB Bank is one of the third generation private banks in Bangladesh. Mohammed Mahtabur Rahman, chairman of Al Haramain Perfumes, is the chairman of the NRB Bank. Mohammed Jamil Iqbal and Tateyama Kabir are vice-chairmen of the NRB Bank. Mehmood ...

project to support non-resident Bangladeshis in their contribution to the country's economy. In 2014, he set up a secondary school and college in Sylhet.

References

External links

Seamark Group websiteIqbal Ahmed
on '' British Bangladeshi Who's Who'' *Barry, Chris
Talking Business with Iqbal Ahmed
''TheBusinessDesk.com''. 19 March 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmed, Iqbal 1956 births Living people Bangladeshi Muslims British Muslims Bangladeshi emigrants to England British people of Bangladeshi descent Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Bangladeshi businesspeople British chief executives British hoteliers British real estate businesspeople Businesspeople from Manchester Businesspeople in the food industry Businesspeople in shipping Nightclub owners People from Balaganj Upazila People from Wilmslow Officers of the Order of the British Empire