| Industry | Wholesale, Cement Manufacturing, Banking, Property Development/Management/Investment |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1976 |
| Founder(s) | Sir Anwar Pervez |
| Headquarters | Bestway Head Office, Abbey Road, Park Royal, London, NW10 7BW |
| Key people | Sir Anwar Pervez, Zameer Choudrey |
| Revenue | £2.2 billion |
| Employees | 5,000 |
| Website | www.bestwaygroup.co.uk |
Contents |
Bestway Group is UK’s second largest Cash & Carry operator, and is the second largest cement producer in Pakistan; and joint owners of Pakistan’s third largest bank; they are the largest overseas Pakistani investor with investments in excess of US$1.0 billion.
In 1976 Sir Anwar Pervez established Bestway’s first wholesale warehouse in Acton, West London. Within first 18 months of trading Acton had achieved an impressive £12.0 million turnover. Subsequently, two more warehouses were opened in Southall and Hackney in 1981 and 1983 respectively. The three warehouses had a combined turnover in excess of £95.0 million, by the end of March 1984.
The flagship of the company, Abbey Road was opened in September 1984. It is located in Park Royal, and continues to be the largest cash and carry warehouse in Europe. The 1990s saw Bestway open warehouse’s in Luton & Lewisham in the South of England; Leeds, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester in the North, and Cardiff & Swansea in Wales.
The 25th anniversary year – 2001 saw the opening of nine new warehouses. This continued and focused growth resulted in the Group turnover crossing the prestigious £1.0 billion mark in 2002.
In January 2005 Bestway Group acquired Batley’s Plc; this is the Group’s largest acquisition to date. Once Bestway’s main rival in Northern England, today it is part of the extended family.
In March 2007, a 33rd depot was opened in Enfield, North London. As part of Bestway’s continued commitment to Cash & Carry sector, Batley’s announced the establishment of a warehouse in Gillingham, South East of England; the first in five years. This warehouse was opened to customers in October 2007.
In June 2010, Batley's acquired Bellevue Cash & Carry Limited which has two depots in Edinburgh and Stirling. In October 2010, a new depot was opened for trading in Aintree in the North West of England.
In November 2010, Batley’s acquired CJ Lang which has three cash & carry depots in Aberdeen, Dundee and Perth. Bestway now have seven depots in Scotland.
As of 2011 The Group has an impressive 61 branch network spread across the United Kingdom.
Bestway Direct Limited: With a keen eye towards the future, in January 2001 the Group launched a food delivery and distribution service – Bestway Direct. In a short span of time the company has created a niche for itself in the sector.
Bestway Catering: Using the experience and knowledge of Batley’s and following successful trials in autumn 2005, new catering departments have been created in fifteen warehouses.
Ethnic Foods Marketing: Given the ever-increasing demand for ethnic foods in the UK and continental Europe, Bestway Group established a specialist ethnic foods marketing company – MAP Trading Ltd (MAP). To complement this, a rice mill was established at Abbey Road.
The company is the UK’s single largest importer of Basmati rice under the brand name of ‘White Pearl’ from Pakistan; it is the best selling Pakistani rice in the UK and Europe. In last few years the ‘White Pearl’ brand has since been extended across other products such as flour, edible oil, lentils, pulses and spices.
Pet Foods: Batley’s has three depots at Exeter, Bristol and Luton that specialise in pet foods. In August 2008, Bestpet’s launched an online ordering facility for customers of its delivered pet food range.
Best-One: Best-One is another segment of the Bestway group, it is a chain of convenience stores based in the UK and Jersey CI.
Cement Manufacturing: The Group set up its first cement plant in 1995 in Hattar in the KP Province of Pakistan, with an initial investment of US$ 120.0 million. The plant’s initial capacity was 0.99 million tonnes per annum, this was enhanced to 1.17 million tonnes per annum at a cost of US$ 10 million in 2002.
Bestway Group expanded its operations by setting up a 1.8 million tonnes per annum cement plant in Chakwal, Punjab Province, Pakistan, at a cost of US$ 180.0 million.Civil works for Bestway Chakwal-I were initiated in January 2005, the Kiln was fired in May 2006 and the plant went into production in June 2006.
In May 2006 the Group announced plans for a second 1.8 million tonnes per annum capacity plant adjacent to its existing operations in Chakwal at a cost of US$ 150.0 million.
To augment its presence in the cement industry, Bestway bid for 85.29% equity of Mustehkam Cement Limited. The Company’s bid of approximately US$ 70.0 million was accepted in September 2005. The plant started production in December 2005 just one month after acquisition. In 2010 the production capacity was further enhanced to 1.1 million tonnes per annum at a total cost of US$ 70.0 million.
Over the last few years, Bestway’s cement capacity has increased from 1.1 million tonnes to 6.0 million tonnes per annum; Bestway Cement is the largest exporter of cement to Afghanistan and India.
Banking: In October 2002 Bestway Group successfully bid for a controlling share in United Bank Limited (UBL). This was a total investment of approximately US$ 210.0 million.
The bank has transformed itself from a loss-making static public sector entity into a profitable dynamic private enterprise. Profit before tax has grown from US$ 48.0 million in December 2002 to US$ 206.5 million in December 2010.
In 2005 for the third consecutive year the CFA Association of Pakistan conferred upon UBL’s Investment Banking Group the ‘Largest Corporate Finance House’ award.
In February 2005 UBL became the first bank in South Asia to launch the EMV enabled credit card. In June 2005 with the launch of ‘UBL Money’ a fixed instalment personal loan product, UBL became the only bank in Pakistan to launch a complete suite of consumer financing products. In August 2005 UBL became the first bank to achieve the ‘Authorised Derivatives Dealer’ status in Pakistan.
As of December 2010 the bank’s asset base had increased to US$ 8.5 billion, with UBL emerging as the second largest private bank in Pakistan.
Today, UBL has over 1,100 branches in Pakistan; a significant presence throughout the Middle East; Subsidiaries in UK and Switzerland; a branch in New York and Representative Offices in Beijing and Kazakhstan.
Philanthropy: In 1987 the Bestway Group established the Bestway Foundation. Every year the Group contributes approximately 2.5% of its profit to the Foundation, which helps support charities and contributes to help the local community. In the last decade Bestway Foundation has invested in 35 inner city schools in as part of the Specialist Schools & Academies Program.
In November 2005 Bestway Group was honoured with the ‘Social Responsibility Award’ at the JP Morgan 2005 Family Business Honours in recognition of demonstrating excellent standards of philanthropy and good citizenship. Then in 2006 HRH the Duke of Edinburgh honoured Bestway Foundation for its contribution towards the success of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards Scheme
The Foundation’s yearly fundraiser event – ‘The Ascot Charity Race Day’ has raised funds for various worthy causes over the years they include: National Hospital Development Fund, Princes Trust, Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity, Barnardos, President of Pakistan Earthquake Relief Fund, Crimestoppers, Save the Children’s Fund, Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards, SportsAid, Age Concern, Variety Club Children’s Charity; The Macmillan Fund.
In June 2006 the President of Pakistan conferred upon Bestway Foundation ‘Sitra-e-Essar’. The award recognised the contribution in excess of £1.0 million made by the Foundation in aiding the efforts of relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction in aftermath of the October 2005 earthquake. Since its establishment Bestway Group has donated in excess of £ 10.0 million to assist the Foundation in its charitable activities geared towards health and education.
In August 2010 due to the unprecedented devastation caused by the floods in Pakistan, Bestway Foundation and Bestway Group donated Rs. 5.0 million to assist the Government in rehabilitating the affected people.
The core businesses of the group are food wholesale; cement manufacturing; financial services and property development & management [1].