| Zameer Choudrey | |
|---|---|
| Born | Pakistan |
| Residence | London, England |
| Nationality | BritishPakistan |
| Citizenship | United Kingdom |
| Occupation | Group Chief Executive |
Zameer Choudrey is the Chief Executive of Bestway Group. He joined Bestway Group as Financial Controller in 1984. Bestway Group is among the top ten family businesses in UK with annual turnover of £2.3 billion.[1]
Zameer graduated from the University of Kent at Canterbury and is a Chartered Accountant by profession.
In 2009, he was estimated to be worth £58 million.[2]
Bestway Group’s wholesale operations are the 2nd largest in the UK with an 18% market share. It trades from 61 warehouses, covering over 5,500,000 sq ft (510,000 m2) of selling space, offering a product range of over 25,000 items and serving over 120,000 independent retailers and foodservice customers nationally. . The Group also provides employment to over 22,500 people globally with 5,000 in the UK.
Zameer’s dynamic leadership has helped Bestway push forward the traditional industry boundaries and diversify into new markets. In 1995 Zameer initiated the Group’s business diversification strategy and was appointed Chief Executive of Bestway Cement. The Group’s first cement plant went into commercial production in April 1998.
Zameer successfully led Bestway’s acquisition of Batley’s Plc in January 2005 for £100.0 million; this is the Group’s largest acquisition to date. The acquisition of Batleys has catapulted Bestway to new heights of success. In the Post Batleys acquisition period Bestway witnessed a 60% growth in market share, with the Group currently enjoying a 18% market share.
Under Zameer’s stewardship, the Group’s cement manufacturing operations have gone on to become the 2nd largest in Pakistan with four modern state of the art cement plants, with a capacity of 6.0 million TPA and a workforce of over 3,000 people. For the year ended June 2010, the combined sales volume of the four plants was 4.94 million tonnes. The company is also the largest exporter of cement to Afghanistan and India. Bestway Cement Limited has set up a 15 MW Waste Heat Recovery Power Plant at its Chakwal plant site, the first of its kind in Pakistan.
In October 2002 Zameer led and managed Bestway’s acquisition of United Bank Limited (UBL) which is Pakistan’s 2nd largest private bank. He serves as a Director on the Board of UBL and chair’s the Board Audit Committee. He is also a director of UBL Insurers. [3]
In January 2011 Bestway Group, increased its shareholding in (UBL) to 51.07% by acquiring an additional 20% of the shares from the Abu Dhabi Group.
As of December 2010, UBL has an asset base of $7.6 billion, advances of $4.3 billion, deposits of $5.98 billion, CAR of 14.4% and EPS of 8.7x. UBL has a vast network of over 1,100 branches in Pakistan and a strong presence in Middle East, North America, Europe, China and Central Asia. It has a UK based subsidiary, United National Bank which has six branches in UK. UBL provides employment to over 14,500 people and serves over 5 million customers.
In April 2009 Zameer joined the Board of Trustees of Crimestoppers. Zameer was appointed as Deputy Chairman for Pakistan and Britain Trade and Investment Forum (PBTIF), in May 2010. In March 2010, Zameer joined the trade industry’s flagship charity Caravan as a Trustee. Caravan is a charity for the grocery industry and helps people all over the UK who have worked, or are working in the grocery industry and need help. Bestway Foundation has been associated with Caravan since 1992.