Iqbal Ahmed (; born 4 August 1956) is a

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

-born British entrepreneur. Based in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, he made his fortune importing shrimp. His two companies, Seamark and Ibco, have extensive interests in

shipping Freight transport, also referred to as freight forwarding, is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...

, hotel and real estate development,

hospitality Hospitality is the relationship of a host towards a guest, wherein the host receives the guest with some amount of goodwill and welcome. This includes the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. Louis de Jaucourt, Louis, ...

, and food. Their success turned him into one of the United Kingdom's richest men. He is also the highest ranked

British Bangladeshi British Bangladeshis () are citizens or residents of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots are from Bangladesh. Bengali Muslims have prominently been migrating to the UK since World War II. Migration reached its peak during the 1970s, with ...

to be featured on the ''Sunday Times'' Rich List.

Early life

Ahmed was born in Balaganj Thana,

Sylhet District Sylhet District (), located in north-east Bangladesh, is one of the four districts in Sylhet Division, which contains Sylhet, the regional capital. History Sylhet District was established on 3 January 1782, and until 1878 it was part of Benga ...

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

(now

). In 1971, at the age of 15, he moved to the United Kingdom. He attended the City College in

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

, and a few years later he joined his family's business located in

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

, which his brothers Kamal and Bilal joined later after the business expanded.

Career

Since March 1992, Ahmed has been CEO of the Seamark Group, which he founded with his brothers. The company Ibco is a supplier to the catering trade, and Seamark is the frozen-food processor. He also owns a hotel development, a Thai restaurant and bar called the Vermilion and Cinnabar (opened 14 November 2007), on Hulme Hall Lane which is worth £5 million, close to the

City of Manchester Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium, currently known as Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, and commonly shortened as The Etihad, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., Manchester City, with a domestic football capacity of 53, ...

. In 2004, Seamark and Ahmed's brothers made a combined profit of £5.1 million on £108 million. The Ahmed family featured in the ''Sunday Times'' Rich List 2006, listed at number 511 with a total net worth of £110 million. In 2007, however, the rank fell to 574, and in 2008 to 644 at £120 million. Ahmed and his brothers were twice listed at number 20 in Top 20 richest Asians in UK with a net worth of £88 million in 2006, and of £90 million in 2007. Ahmed and his family's Manchester-based business has a £200 million revenue across the city, with a workforce of 2,000 in Bangladesh, which is where he was born. The products are exported across Europe and

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, as popular brand names such as Mr Prawn, Lily, Classic and Tiger. In 2001, a new sales office was created in the United States to distribute products in North America, located in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

and in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York City. He is popularly known as 'Mr Shrimp' or 'King Prawn' by the British community. In 2006, Ahmed was nominated by The British Frozen Food Federation to represent their interest and concerns as a member of the Ethical Trading Champions' Group, which was set up as part of the Government's Food Industry Sustainability Strategy. In 2007, Ahmed was invited to join an economic think tank, the New Enterprise Council, by

George Osborne George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born 23 May 1971) is a British retired politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the Cameron government. A ...

. Over the years he has played an active role in a number of government committees and advisory bodies. They include the

Department of Trade and Industry Department of Trade and Industry may refer to: Current * Department of Trade and Industry (Isle of Man) * Department of Trade and Industry (Philippines) * Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (South Africa) Former * Department of Trade ...

's Southern Asia Advisory Group; the Competitiveness Council and the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

's BOND initiative, which provides UK companies with low-cost introductions to potential business partners in key developing international markets.

Awards and recognition

In 2001, Ali was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the

2001 New Year Honours The 2001 New Year Honours List is one of the annual New Year Honours, a part of the British honours system, where New Year's Day, 1 January, is marked in several Commonwealth countries by appointing new members of orders of chivalry and recipie ...

for his services to international trade. Ahmed was recognised for services to import and export at the Legends of Industry Award at the Hilton Manchester Deansgate hotel. In June 2012, he won the international entrepreneur of the year category in

Ernst & Young EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership, network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms, Big F ...

's North region Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, held at The Lowry Hotel. In January 2013 and 2015, he was nominated for the Businessman of the Year award at the

British Muslim Awards The British Muslim Awards are an annual award ceremony that honours the success and achievements of British Muslim individuals, groups and businesses. It was established in 2013. Overview The British Muslim Awards was founded by Oceanic Consult ...

. In December 2014, he was awarded by the UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) for contributing to Britain's export.

Personal life

Ahmed lives in

Wilmslow Wilmslow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is south of Manchester. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census the parish had a population of 26,213 and the built up area had a p ...

, Cheshire. His brothers Bilal and Kamal live nearby. His hobbies include travelling, playing golf, tennis and swimming. Ahmed also runs his own foundation to help and improve the lives of the poor in his native Bangladesh and is also the founder chairman of the NRB Bank project to support non-resident Bangladeshis in their contribution to the country's economy. In 2014, he set up a secondary school and college in

Sylhet Sylhet (; ) is a Metropolis, metropolitan city in the north eastern region of Bangladesh. It serves as the administrative center for both the Sylhet District and the Sylhet Division. The city is situated on the banks of the Surma River and, as o ...

References

External links

Seamark Group website

Iqbal Ahmed
on ''

British Bangladeshi Who's Who ''British Bangladeshi Who's Who'' is an annual publication highlighting the accomplishments, contributions and achievements of successful British Bangladeshis. It was established in 2008 and also holds an annual award ceremony in London, England. ...

'' * Barry, Chris
Talking Business with Iqbal Ahmed
''TheBusinessDesk.com''. 19 March 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmed, Iqbal 1956 births Living people Bangladeshi Muslims British Muslims Bangladeshi emigrants to England British people of Bangladeshi descent Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Bangladeshi businesspeople British chief executives British hoteliers British businesspeople in real estate Businesspeople from Manchester British food industry businesspeople Businesspeople in shipping Nightclub owners People from Balaganj Upazila People from Wilmslow Bangladeshi Officers of the Order of the British Empire