Sir

Anwar Pervez

OBE, HPk
Born (1935-03-15) 15 March 1935[1]
Rawalpindi, British India (now Pakistan)
NationalityBritish
CitizenshipBritish citizenship and Pakistani citizenship - dual citizenship
Occupation(s)Chairman, Bestway
SpouseSabiha Qasim
Children4
RelativesZameer Choudrey (nephew) Dawood Pervez (son)

Sir Mohammed Anwar Pervez OBE, HPk (Urdu: سر انور پرویز; born 15 March 1935) is a Pakistani-born British billionaire businessman and former bus conductor and driver.[2] He is the founder and chairman of Bestway Group.

According to the Sunday Times Rich List, in 2020 Anwar Pervez's net worth was £3.1 billion; which made him the richest Pakistan-born Briton in the UK.[3] The 2021 list gave his family's assets as £1.364 billion, placing them 125th on the list.[4]

Early life

Mohammed Anwar Pervez was born on 15 March 1935 to a subsistence farming family in Rawalpindi, then under British rule.[5] He did his matriculation in Pakistan. He studied at Forman Christian College. In 1951, he moved to the UK at the age of 16.[5][6]

Career

His first job was as a telephone operator in the state-owned telecommunication company PTCL.[5] There he used to work for Rs. 96 a month and most of them were spent on anti-malaria medications.[7]

In 1951, he emigrated to England. There he became a bus conductor and driver in Bradford.[5] He worked seven days a week on double shifts for about £16-£18 a week.[5]

In 1963, he established his first convenience store, Kashmir, in London's Earls Court for the Muslim community.[5][8] By the early seventies, he had changed the company's name to Bestway and was operating ten convenience stores in and around West London, mostly serving Asians, and specialised in Asian food.[5][6]

In 1976, Pervez opened Bestway's first wholesale warehouse in Acton, West London.[6] The company has since grown to a multibillion-pound enterprise, and as of 2014 Bestway is the second-largest independent wholesaler in the UK.[9] In 2014, his group bought 774 pharmacies from The Co-operative Group for £620 million.[10]

Personal life

He was married to his second wife Sabiha Qasim with whom he had four children. A son from his first marriage and another from his second are directors of Bestway.[11][12]

In 2012, their daughter Farah married Syed Abid Hussain Imam, the son of Pakistani politicians Abida Hussain and Fakhar Imam. She lives in Lahore and is not involved in Bestway.[12]

Honours

Pervez was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1992[13] and a Knight Bachelor in 1999.[14]

In March 2000, he was awarded Hilal-i-Pakistan by the Pakistani Government for his services to Pakistan.[15]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (107 ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 3113. ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.
  2. ↑ Marlow, Ben (18 July 2014). "Bestway cash and carry empire snaps up Co-op high street pharmacies" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  3. ↑ Times, The Sunday. "Rich List 2020: profiles 21-50, featuring Salma Hayek and Sir Richard Branson". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  4. ↑ "The Sunday Times Rich List 2021". Asian Voice. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Wright, John (5 January 2020). "Billionaire Sir Anwar Pervez: 'In the Eighties market crash, I only lost a million pounds'". The Telegraph – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  6. 1 2 3 Midgley, Dominic (21 July 2014). "Anwar Pervez: The Billionaire cash and carry King". Express. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  7. ↑ Rehman, Atika (5 October 2019). "Sir Anwar Pervez: from driving buses to billion-dollar conglomerate". DAWN.COM.
  8. ↑ "Corporate Heritage :: Bestway Group". www.bestwaygroup.co.uk.
  9. ↑ Bounds, Andrew; Barrett, Claer (18 July 2014). "Cash-and-carry group Bestway to buy Co-op pharmacies for £620m". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  10. ↑ Ralph, Kathryn Hopkins, Alex. "Bestway tycoon Sir Anwar Pervez to buy Co op pharmacies". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 19 January 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ↑ "Bestway's Pervez steps back as son joins board". Thegrocer.co.uk. 17 July 2004. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  12. 1 2 Midgley, Dominic (21 July 2014). "Anwar Pervez: The Billionaire cash and carry King". Daily Express. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  13. ↑ "No. 52952". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 June 1992. p. 11. (United Kingdom)
  14. ↑ "Honours and Awards". London Gazette. 14 September 1999. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  15. ↑ "Sir Mohammed Anwar Pervez".
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