Sir Rajeshwar Sarup "Roger" Bhatnagar (26 October 1942 – 7 November 2022) was an Indian-born New Zealand businessman known for his association with the consumer electronics chain

Noel Leeming The Warehouse Group (TWG) was founded by Stephen Tindall in 1982, and is the largest retail group operating in New Zealand. It is a corporate group that consists of The Warehouse, Warehouse Stationery, Torpedo7, Noel Leeming, 1-day and TheMark ...

Early life

Bhatnagar was born in India on 26 October 1942, and grew up in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

. In the 1960s he travelled the world, occasionally sleeping rough due to a shortage of money. He settled for a while in Canada, where he worked in electronics retail in British Columbia. He married a New Zealand-born woman in Canada, where he had a number of children.

New Zealand

Bhatnagar migrated to New Zealand with his family from Canada in 1980. The same year he opened his first home audio store in central

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, and it quickly grew into the Sound Plus chain. In 1991, he purchased the

chain, in receivership at that time, for around $3 million with his business associate, Greg Lancaster, from

Smiths City Smiths City is a New Zealand retail chain selling furniture and home appliances. It was originally founded by Henry Cooper Smith in 1918 as City Market initially involved with auctioning grain and product. History Early history In 1918, Henr ...

. In 1993, Noel Leeming was listed on the

New Zealand Stock Exchange New Zealand's Exchange (), known commonly as the NZX, is the national stock exchange for New Zealand and a publicly owned company. NZX is the parent company of Smartshares, and Wealth Technologies. On 30 August 2020, the NZX had a total of 1 ...

with a market capitalisation of about $26 million and in 1995 the company was the subject of a failed $56 million takeover bid by

Skellerup Skellerup is a New Zealand-based manufacturer of industrial and agricultural rubber products. The company, then called Para Rubber Company, was founded by George Skellerup in 1910 when he opened his first retail shop in Christchurch and now empl ...

. The following year, Noel Leeming merged with competitor Bond & Bond to form Pacific Retail. In 1998, Bhatnagar stepped down as chairman and an executive director of Pacific Retail, and he divested his interests in the company in 1999. In 1993, Bhatnagar was involved in setting up

Burger King Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based res ...

in New Zealand, but sold his 50 percent interest two years later. He retired from active involvement in business in 2007.

Philanthropy

In 1997 Bhatnagar's wealth was estimated as $28 million. Bhatnagar supported a number of charitable causes in New Zealand, including the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation, child cancer and diabetes. In 1997, he donated $250,000 to the Breast Cancer Foundation. In 2017, Bhatnagar's collection of cricket memorabilia was donated to

Auckland Cricket The Auckland cricket team represent the Auckland region and are one of six New Zealand domestic first class cricket teams. Governed by the Auckland Cricket Association they are the most successful side having won 28 Plunket Shield titles, ten ...

, and it was put on permanent display at the Bert Sutcliffe Lounge at

Eden Park Eden Park is New Zealand's largest sports stadium, with a capacity of 50,000. Located in central Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, it is three kilometres southwest of the CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and King ...

Death

Bhatnagar died in the Auckland suburb of Ellerslie on 7 November 2022, aged 80. His death, at Summerset Heritage Park retirement village, followed a long illness and a stroke in 2009.

Honours

In the 1998 Queen's Birthday Honours, Bhatnagar was appointed a

Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

, for services to business and the community, becoming the first person of Indian descent to be knighted in New Zealand.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhatnagar, Roger 1942 births 2022 deaths Indian emigrants to New Zealand 20th-century New Zealand businesspeople Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit Businesspeople awarded knighthoods New Zealand philanthropists 20th-century philanthropists 21st-century Indian philanthropists 21st-century New Zealand businesspeople