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BEHIND: Truett Tate, Hamid Yunis, Harjit Singh, Raj Joshi, Faisal Ahmed (son of Lifetime Achievement Winner), Nick Thing (VP of European Operations, STAR TV) FRONT: Diana Brightmore-Armour, Superna Sethi, Dr Pampa Sarkar, Lamel Hothi

LLOYDS TSB SOUTHERN JEWELS CROWNED

Seven coveted Jewel Awards were announced for Business & Commerce Excellence, Entrepreneur Excellence, Healthcare & Education Excellence, Professional Excellence, Public Service Excellence, Retail Food & Franchise Excellence, as well as the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Jewel Award. Winners’ names were short-listed from a record 6,200 nominations.

Diana Brightmore-Armour, CEO Corporate Banking and Co Head of Corporate, Harjit & Superna, Kamel Hothi

This year’s winners are: The Entrepreneur Excellence Jewel Award: Mr Harjit Singh and Miss Superna Sethi The founders of Manhattan Properties began their extensive property portfolio by paying for a deposit on a £30,000 two-bedroom flat in Kenton with a credit card in 1994. Within six weeks they managed to redecorate, sell, and make a profit from the apartment. Between 1996 and 1999 Manhattan Properties went on to purchase and develop over 50% of the auction stock within the West London area. Looking for further challenges, they decided to explore the Central London market and over the last 13 years have built an impressive portfolio of properties with their niche clearly being the “high end” market, offering bespoke properties for the elite, rich and famous. In 2003 they achieved over £1,000 per square foot in an apartment block in Mayfair and are presently accomplishing up to £2,000 per square foot. 

Kamel Hothi, Asian Markets Director & Diana Brightmore-Armour, CEO Corporate Banking and Co Head of Corporate Markets

 
The Business & Commerce Excellence Jewel Award: Imraan LadakCEO of DRC Locums, Imraan acquired a 33% stake in the company when it was a small business supplying temporary and permanent staffing solutions to the NHS and private sector. Since then, annual turnover has grown from £800,000 to in excess of £24m, becoming the second largest supplier of Locum Doctors in the UK and catapulting him into the Times Young Rich List alongside Christiano Ronaldo and Ricky Hatton. Imraan has also founded Locumlinx and IDR Marketing, which exceeded £5m in turnover within two years of incorporation. Imraan bought Kettering Town FC in 2005 – appointing Paul Gascoigne as manager – before turning the club professional for the first time in its 133-year history. He also established a youth academy and the club plays a role in raising money for charity and promoting opportunities in professional football for Asians.  
 

Mark Stokes, Managing Director Large Corporate, Imraan Ladak, Kamel Hothi, Asian Markets Director

The Healthcare & Education Excellence Jewel Award: Dr Pampa SarkarConsultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at Wexham Park Hospital, Dr Sarkar is recognised for her exceptional work within the medical sector and passionately devoted to the science of fetal medicine and as a clinician she has expanded the fetal medicine service at Wexham Park Hospital and introduced detailed fetal assessment and prenatal diagnosis by chorionic villus sampling. As a researcher, she is involved in the effect of prenatal stress on the fetus and on its development, and is researching into the possible mechanisms of stress transfer and the role of the placenta. 

Neil Mahoney, Regional Director Commercial, Asif Rangoonwala, Kamel Hothi

The Professional Excellence Jewel Award: Hamid YunisA senior partner in the Finance & Projects team of the international law firm of Taylor Wessing, Hamid has become one of the world’s leading lawyers in the fast developing Islamic Finance industry and has acted on some of the largest deals completed in this area globally. Based in their City office, Hamid leads the Healthcare Infrastructure and Services Practice, which specialises in complex and innovative transactions in this sector.
He also advises the Islamic Financial Services Board, the industry’s leading standard setting body. 
The Public Service Excellence Jewel Award: Raj JoshiCrown Prosecution Service Director of Legal Practice and Quality Assurance, Raj has become one of the UK’s foremost Asian lawyers and a champion of equality and justice. As early as 1983, he argued for the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law, presaging the Government by 16 years. From funding his way through university and his barrister apprenticeship, to reaching Director level, he has become the highest ranking civil servant from a BME background in the CPS. Raj helped formulate and implement CPS policy, including looking at prosecution decisions for possible bias against BME communities. As head of the CPS European and International Division he developed policy on extradition issues, the European Arrest Warrant and the International Criminal Court. 

 
Retail Food & Franchise Excellence Jewel Award: Asif RangoonwalaAsif is a successful business entrepreneur, who has a diverse array of interests spanning a range of sectors including food, property and sport. He is also the founder of UK-based Eurobuns Limited, a hugely successful venture in the industrial baking sector. He is also active in a number of prestigious organisations within the UK and abroad – these include being a fellow of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, Trustee of the Whitefield Development Trust, Vice Chairman of Indus Entrepreneurs UK and Chairman of the World Memon Foundation. 

Steve Winningham, MD for Financial Institutions, Raj Joshi, Kamel Hothi

Lifetime Achievement Award: Ahmed RandereeMr Ahmed Randeree is the Founder of The DCD Group, including DCD London & Mutual PLC. Having moved from South Africa to the UK in the mid 1970's, Mr Randeree was instrumental in growing the group’s Apparel and Trade Finance business. Mr Randeree presided over the group when its turnover and operations grew from $2.5million in 1977 to over $150million by 1998. Recently, Mr Randeree has supported the business expansion into Real Estate, Asset Management and identifying niche Banking investments. Mr Randeree was instrumental in the setting up of Bank Islami with Dubai Bank and Jahangir Siddiqui & Co and he serves as a Non-Executive Director of the Bank, listed on the KSE. Over the past 5 years in the UK, the DCD Group were founder shareholders in IBB (Islamic Bank of Britain plc) and EIIB ( European Islamic Investment Bank plc), both of which are listed on the London Stock Exchange. The Group also has a significant holding in Albaraka Bank Ltd of South Africa.

Entertainment

Lloyds TSB’s sponsorship of the Jewel Awards is just one aspect of the bank’s continuing involvement with the UK’s fast growing Asian population, as an employer and a financial services provider. The Group has also developed a range of products and services catering for the community’s unique financial needs. These include a range of Islamic banking services and a tie up with India’s second largest bank, ICICI Bank, to provide customers with free money transfers between the UK and India, as well as Rupee mortgages for Indian property purchases.  
 
Truett Tate, Group Executive Director, Wholesale & International Banking, Lloyds TSB, said: “The success story of Britain’s Asian community continues unabated. Year after year, the shortlist for the Lloyds TSB Jewel Awards showcases an incredible array of talent and this year is no exception. Through the Lloyds TSB Jewel Awards we want to demonstrate the achievements of the community across the public and private sector.  But that is just the start. We have established ourselves as a bank that is dedicated to serving Britain’s communities. Our Islamic financial products and our India Banking Service are just two examples of initiatives we have launched to cater for the needs of our increasingly diverse population.” 
This year, STAR TV – the world’s leading Asian satellite channel – is proud of its position as media partner of the Lloyds TSB Southern Jewel Awards. The partnership reaffirms STAR TV’s fundamental principle of broadcasting the widest possible spectrum of programming across entertainment, community and current affairs, as well as the highest level of news and sports reporting.

Entertainment

The prestigious event, which marks a significant highlight on the UK Asian business calendar, will be recorded and televised exclusively on STAR Plus on 7th October at 7.30pm in UK and Europe.
Truett Tate, Executive Director for Wholesale and International Banking, Winner, Kamel Hothi