Indian-origin ‘Chicken King’ tops UK’s regional Asian rich list

An Indian-origin entrepreneur nicknamed ‘Chicken King’ for running UK’s largest poultry business has topped this year’s Asian Rich List for the Midlands region of England with an estimated wealth of 1.35 billion pounds. Ranjit Boparan, the founder and owner of 2 Sisters Food Group, has topped the Asian Rich List  Midlands, published by the Asian Media & Marketing Group (AMG), for a second consecutive year with an estimated wealth of 1.35 billion pounds, an overall increase of 50 million pounds over 2014.

Leading NRI industrialists Lord Swraj Paul and his son Angad, whose Caparo Group has significant business presence in the Midlands region north of London, was ranked second with an estimated 725 million pounds. Vedanta Resources founder-chairman Anil Agarwal (370mn pounds), Abdul Rashid and Aziz <g data-gr-id="32">Tayub</g> (200mn pounds) of the wholesale Crown Crest Group and Shiraz Tejani (150mn pounds) of the manufacturing group LPC complete this year’s top five. 

“The list shows the remarkable resilience and diversity of Asian businesses in the UK. Despite the challenges of the general <g data-gr-id="34">economy</g> many business leaders in the community have seen opportunity and potential and moved quickly to capitalise. “It is an inspiring picture and one that should energise entrepreneurs everywhere,” said Shailesh Solanki, executive editor of AMG and one of a panel of four experts who examined British Asian wealth over the last year for the Asian Rich List. The combined overall net worth of 2015’s 51 millionaires totalled 4.37 billion pounds, an increase of 60 million pounds since 2014. The list saw two new entries with a combined value of 32 million pounds. 

One is Danesh and Sanjay <g data-gr-id="31">Gadhia</g> at No 38 with Morningside Healthcare, their successful Leicester-based pharmaceutical wholesaler and retail chain valued at 20 million pounds. The second new entry is Manjit Pawar, director of Absolute Care Homes which provides dementia care and nursing services to clients in the north of England. With the entry point for this year’s list being set at 12 million pounds, one would expect many of the business owners to be first generation immigrants that have worked hard to build their fortunes.