The UK’s most prominent and longstanding celebration of British Asian achievement across multiple fields. Asian Achievers Awards, paid tribute to Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II at the annual ceremony, which took place on Friday 23rd September at Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London. Dame Arlene Foster DBE PC, Former First Minister of Northern Ireland, led the tribute with a one-minute silence to inaugurate the ceremony.
The evening was hosted by actor, Nitin Ganatra OBE, and entrepreneur, philanthropist and documentary filmmaker, Deana Uppal, and welcomed a guest list of celebrities, public figures, VIPs and dignitaries including Love Island contestant, Priya Gopaldas; TOWIE stars, Dani Imbert and Junaid Ahmed; comedian, Tez Ilyas (Man Like Mobeen); actors, Raj Ghatak, Nisha Aaliya and Yanick Ghanty; music artists, Bambi Bains, Rumer and H Dhami; Premier League presenter, Manish Bhasin; former Miss England, Hammasa Kohistani; Rajesh Agrawal, Deputy Mayor for Business London; Dr Kartar Lalvani OBE, Founder and Chairman, Vitabiotics; Subaskaran Allirajah, Founder and Chairman, Lyca; Head Teacher, Katherine Birbalsingh; businesswoman, Sheetal Mafatlal; and lead researcher for the COVID vaccine, Maheshi Ramasamy, Oxford Vaccine Group.
Now in their 20th year, Asian Achievers Awards are recognised as the most prestigious and longstanding celebration of the leading figures of the UK’s South Asian community and their achievements, initiated by public nominations. Established in 2000, the Awards returned this year following the pandemic, presented by a global advisory firm, EPG, and supported by media partners, Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar, Zee TV, Sunrise Radio and Luxury magazine.
Across ten categories including Art & Culture; Business Person of the Year; Entrepreneur of the Year; and Community Service, the Asian Achievers Awards received more than 500 nominations, from which the judges shortlisted four per category, evenly divided between male and female candidates.
This year’s judging panel was reflective of the diversity and experience of the nominations received. It included Former Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Bas Javid; Former President of the Royal College of General Practitioners, Dr Mayur Lakhani CBE; COO of Monzo Bank, Sujata Bhatia; music producer, Bally Sagoo; Welsh Assembly Member, Natasha Asghar; and Artistic Director of Darbar Festival, Sandeep Virdee OBE.
Asian Achievers Awards 2022 Winners:
Art and Culture:
Namit Malhotra – Chairman and CEO of industry-leading, visual effects and animation company, DNEG, and Founder and Non-Executive Director of DNEG's parent company, Prime Focus Limited.
Business Person of the Year:
Shamil and Kavi Thakrar – Founders of Dishoom, one of the UK’s most successful, Indian restaurant companies. The company was ranked fourth in the 100 Best UK Companies
Community Service:
Dr Zareen Roohi Ahmed – Founder and CEO of Gift Wellness and Chair of The Halimah Trust, a charity established to fulfil the dreams of her daughter who was tragically murdered in 2007.
Entrepreneur of the Year:
Sherry Vaswani – Founder and CEO of Xalient, a global provider of IT services to large enterprises, specialising in cloud networking and cybersecurity.
Lifetime Achievement Award:
Dr Kartar Lalvani OBE – Founder and Chairman of Vitabiotics, the first and now most successfully specialised vitamin supplement firm in the UK, with presence in over 100 countries.
Media:
Naga Munchetty – Known nationwide as one of the presenters on BBC Breakfast and hosting a prominent radio show on BBC 5 Live.
Professional of the Year:
Professor Sir Shankar Balasubramanian (University of Cambridge) – Shankar created Next Generation DNA Sequencing, a technology that enables fast, accurate, low-cost and large-scale genome sequencing.
Special Award for Business Leadership:
Puneet Gupta – Co-Owner and joint CEO of PG Paper, an award-winning company based in Scotland, UK and one of Scotland’s largest and most successful exporters, with a presence in 55 countries.
Special Award for Innovation and Entrepreneurship:
Bankim Chandra – Today, he is the Founder and CEO of Dotsquares, with offices in France, Australia, the US and the UK as well as three development centres in India. They have over 800 staff members in a business that provides creative digital design and development services.
Sports Personality of the Year:
Karenjeet Kaur Bains – The first female Sikh powerlifter to represent Team GB. She became the 2019 Commonwealth Champion, winning three gold medals and two silver medals in Newfoundland, Canada. She also became the first British Sikh female to represent Britain in the World and European Championships, placing in the top 10.
Uniformed and Civil Service:
Captain Harpreet Chandi – Army officer and physiotherapist known as ‘Polar Preet’, she has created history by becoming the first woman of colour to complete a solo, unsupported trek to the South Pole. She has also completed a 156-mile ultramarathon across the Sahara Desert in 2019.
Woman of the Year:
Rt Hon Suella Braverman KC MP – UK Home Secretary and former Attorney General. Suella was first elected to Parliament in 2015 for Fareham, Hampshire and re-elected in 2017 and 2019. She served on the Education Select Committee for two years and was made Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Exiting the European Union in 2018 prior to rising in ranks to the position of UK Attorney General and current Home Secretary.
Outstanding Achievement in Healthcare:
Prema Subaskaran – Entrepreneur and philanthropist, who founded LycaHealth in 2015, overseeing the operational and strategic development of the business.
Pratik Dattani, Managing Director, EPG said, “Tonight we celebrated truly the best in the South Asian community in Britain today and I see the next 20 years bringing even more success for our diaspora. The AAA will continue to be the platform to identify, recognise and support the innovators, visionaries and community giants that will build Britain and make the world a better place.”
L George, Director, EPG Events; former CEO, Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar said, "The Asian Achievers Awards night is always special because it serves as a platform for the community to come together. And, of course, it's a great place to network with a room full of the most successful people from the British Asian community. But, more importantly, it's amazing to know and to celebrate how successful the community has been today in every field."
The awards ceremony was interspersed with live performances on the night including Brit Award-nominee, Rumer; cellist and pianist, Alison Gabrielle; and star of TV’s Man Like Mobeen, stand-up comedian Tez Ilyas; with Lord Jeffrey Archer conducting the charity auction in support of the chosen Charity Partner, Pardada Pardadi.
ABPL Group’s Editor-In-Chief and Publisher CB Patel said, “I am so happy that after two years AAA is back with the same spirit and with enthusiastic support from the community at large. There are some amongst the audience with outstanding success stories. Some have attended this event in the past, and got inspired and motivated. And there are many more budding successes, entrepreneurs, professionals, artists, and painters who had laid the purpose of starting the Asian Achievers Award and even played a vital role in the success of this jubilant awards event.
It is very gratifying for me that Pratik Dattani and Liji George have done a tremendous job with their team in organizing this event for a worthwhile cause and the fund raised for the Pardada Pardadi Educational Society UK is very exemplary. There is a message that for any society developed or underdeveloped, education is the key foundation for success.
Once again, I congratulate all the award winners and thanks to the dignified guests and supporters present at the eve along with the sponsors and advertisers for the grand re-welcome and success of AAA-2022.”
