Bobby Hashemi

Bobby Hashemi is a successful British entrepreneur who is now a private equity investor at Risk Capital Partners LLP in London.[1] Bobby previously co-founded the coffee chain Coffee Republic with his sister Sahar Hashemi. Bobby also co-wrote “Anyone Can do It” [2] and is a regular public speaker.

Contents

Education

In 1990, Bobby received an MBA from Amos Tuck School of Business Administration, at Dartmouth College, USA. In 1985, Bobby received a BSc. in Computer Engineering at Syracuse University, USA.

Career

Bobby started his career as an investment banker in mergers and acquisitions at Lehman Brothers Investment Bank in New York. He had been there for 3 years when the sudden death of his father in 1993 led him to take a sabbatical to spend time in London, closer to his family. Bobby was considering returning to Lehman Brothers after his sabbatical when he spotted a great business opportunity.

The inspiration for this business opportunity was his sister Sahar who had just returned from a trip to New York, discovering a gap in the market for coffee drinks. Bobby saw this as a seed for a new business venture and the idea of Coffee Republic was born. Bobby Hashemi formed the Coffee Republic chain with his sister Sahar in 1995 [3]

Bobby took the position of founder and chairman of Coffee Republic, UK's first US style coffee bar chain with his sister and built it into one of the UK's most recognised high street brands with a turnover of £30m. The first site opened on South Molton Street in London. The siblings were able to make Coffee Republic one of the main players in the 'coffee revolution' that transformed a nation of tea drinkers into one obsessed with fancy coffees. [4]

Bobby stepped down from Coffee Republic in 2001, when the company was a fast-growing, listed PLC on the London Stock Exchange with a market capitalization of £30m, and 60 stores around the UK. Then two years later, he re-joined in 2003 till 2006 to lead a turnaround of the business and develop the Coffee Republic Deli concept.[5]

Since early 2007, Bobby has been a private equity investor at Risk Capital Partners LLP in London.

Anyone can Do It

Anyone Can Do It was published in 2003 and tells the story of the high street coffee chain: Coffee Republic. The book is written jointly by Sahar and Bobby Hashemi and describes the journey of turning Coffee Republic from an idea into a high street brand. The book is aimed at budding entrepreneurs and those starting up in business. The book is published by Wiley Publishing [1] and has been translated into six languages. ‘Anyone Can Do It’ reached number 1 on the Amazon business chart. The book has also been endorsed by the DTI, The Princes Trust and Institute of Directors.

References

  1. ^ http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1841127655.html

External links