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Asian talent crowned at Lloyds TSB Northern Jewel Awards

25/ 4/2008

SOME of the brightest stars of the British Asian community were recognised at the Lloyds TSB Northern Jewel Awards, including one of the region’s most successful businessmen, Riaz Ahmed and cancer therapy research specialist Dr. Rabinder Buttar.

Now in its sixth year, the event was held the Palace Hotel, Manchester and was hosted by GMTV’s, Claire Nasir.

The winners were chosen from thousands of nominations from across the region, spanning business, education, politics and the charity sector. The panel of judges for the event faced a tough challenge selecting the final winners from this high calibre selection of nominees.

Eight coveted Lloyds TSB Jewel Awards were announced on the night for Business & Commerce Excellence, Entrepreneur Excellence, Healthcare & Education Excellence, Professional Excellence, Public Service Excellence, Retail Food & Franchise Excellence, and a new award for the Future Leaders, as well as the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Jewel Award.

This year’s winners, including two recipients of the Business & Commerce Excellence Jewel Award, are:

The Business & Commerce Excellence Jewel Award: Azeem Ibrahim (Glasgow) - Founder of the European Commerce and Mercantile (ECM) Bank.

The Business & Commerce Excellence Jewel Award: Dr. Rabinder Buttar (Glasgow) - President and CEO of ClinTec International Ltd

The Entrepreneur Excellence Jewel Award: Oman Rana (Bradford) - of Industrial Medical Agency

The Healthcare & Education Excellence Jewel Award: Neeraj Salwan, Harminder Shergill & Sanjay Majhu (Glasgow) - of Apple Healthcare

The Professional Excellence Jewel Award: Kuljeet Hoti (Manchester) - a partner in Eversheds

The Public Service Excellence Jewel Award: Baroness Sayeeda Warsi (Sheffield)

Retail Food & Franchise Excellence Jewel Award: Riaz Ahmed (Burnley) - founder of Sweet Dreams,

The Future Leaders Award Winner: Saima Hussain (Bradford) - Saima is the first ever female to play Rugby League for Yorkshire and has been selected for the Great Britain squad.

Lifetime Achievement Award: Paul Dharni (Bradford)

Truett Tate, Group Executive Director, Wholesale & International Banking, Lloyds TSB, said: "The continued success story of British Asian firms is an inspiration to the wider business community. Currently, Asian owned firms are outpacing other companies in their rate of growth and are making their mark across fields as diverse as culture, finance, retail and professional services.

"Our sponsorship of the Jewel Awards is just one way that Lloyds TSB is helping to recognise and develop this success. We have established ourselves as a bank that is dedicated to serving Britain’s changing communities. We are continuing to develop our range of Islamic financial services and are always exploring new ways to meet the needs of our Asian customers."

Khalid Darr, Chairman of Carter Andersen (CA), organisers of The Lloyds TSB Jewel Awards, says: "Asian men and women throughout the regions are challenging the world of business, breaking new grounds in their professional careers and adding real value to the UK economy, this is what these awards set out to recognise."

STAR TV, the world’s leading Asian satellite channel and the most popular destination for Indian televisual entertainment, are the media partners for this year’s Lloyds TSB Jewel Awards, and will televise all three regional events exclusively on STAR Plus. The Lloyds TSB Northern Jewel Awards will be broadcast on Sunday 18th May 2008 at 9pm on STAR Plus.

Nominations for this year’s Lloyds TSB Central and Southern Jewel Awards are still open and can be made via a dedicated website: www.jewelawards.tv