Zameer Choudrey: From Pakistan’s Gujar Khan to House of Lords

LONDON: British-Pakistani billionaire businessperson Zameer Choudrey says he would remember – and never forget – his humble origins in a small village of Gujjar Khan, near Rawalpindi, Pakistan, and did so as he took oath as member of the House of Lord.

In his first interview with Geo.tv since being appointed as a member of the UK's House of Lords on the Conservative bench, Lord Choudrey recalled how he, as a 12-year-old hailing from a working class background, came to Britain with his family.

Lord Choudrey is the nephew of billionaire Sir Anwar Pervez, who worked as bus conductor after arriving in the UK, later opening a corner shop and going on to establish a multi-billion-pound cash-and-carry business empire with help from his family. Queen Elizabeth II gave him knighthood for his services in trade industry.

Currently the chief executive of British multinational conglomerate wholesale company, Bestway Group, Lord Choudrey told Geo.tv that he proudly says "we are villagers". Elaborating on that, he said: "I originate from a village called Thathi, its in District Gujjar Khan near Rawalpindi. We came to the UK from Thathi.

"At the age of 12 when I came here, I had not seen the city of Gujjar Khan. I made it purpose of my life to work hard with sincerity. We are clean-hearted and we have grown up with the belief that only hard work pays.

"This is what I teach my kids that work hard and Allah will help you.”

Lord Choudrey currently heads the Conservative Friends of Pakistan, a group dedicated to working with Pakistani diaspora in the UK to bump up the membership of his fellow country-people in British politics backed by Conservative Party. Interestingly, he took his party's chairperson to Pakistan two months ago for a meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan.

About his new role as Tory House of Lords member, Lord Choudery said he would do his best to improve relations between UK and Pakistan, which, he said, "have strong trade ties".

He noted: "I will do my best to make sure that our cultural and trade relations are enhanced and further strengthened.

"Both countries share joint interests and our party’s values have similarity with Pakistani values,” he said.

The British-Pakistani billionaire said he credited his colleagues, friends and family who supported him in his work, noting that being appointed as House of Lords member was a humbling experience. “I have been chosen to represent thousands of hard working people who have put in hard effort to make our brand a success.”

The Bestway Group CEO said his family started at a small level but expanded and paid taxes on profits to keep growing. “We are the second largest wholesale business in UK and own 800 Bestway retail stores.

"We own pharmacy and property businesses. In Pakistan, we own United Bank Limited (UBL) and Bestway Cement. In UK, we employ more than 15,000 people and, in Pakistan, the number stands at around 23,000.”

The businessperson said his business group had given lots of money in donation to promote education in the UK and Pakistan to fulfil the religious obligation of helping the needy.

“There is no better investment than investing in education. For Muslims, giving charity is one of the pillars of Islam. Education has long-term impact.

"We have given over 500 scholarships to students of Pakistani origin in universities in Bradford, Kent, and Oxford. We have given dozens of scholarships to educational institutions in Pakistan and recently gave 20 scholarships to the NUST — National University of Sciences & Technology.”

Lord Choudrey is scheduled to take oath in a few days at the House of Lords. However, he vowed to remain focused on doing his business and to use his business skills for debates on commerce the UK Parliament's lower house.

“I will be doing specialist contributions in House of Lords in the area that I know best about it. I will not go into other areas which are not my forte,” said Lord Choudrey.