Suleman Raza (born August 1980) is a

British-Pakistani British Pakistanis (; also known as Pakistani British people or Pakistani Britons) are Britons or residents of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in Pakistan. This includes people born in the UK who are of Pakistani descent, Pakist ...

food entrepreneur, restaurateur, and activist. He is the founder of One Million Meals, a charitable campaign started in March 2020 from his own restaurant chain using

GoFundMe GoFundMe is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to the ...

in the UK. He owned the cricket franchise Mirpur Royals in the Kashmir Premier League. The

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...

, awarded Raza the

Points of Light Points of Light is an international nonprofit, nonpartisan organization headquartered in Georgia, United States dedicated to engaging more people and resources in solving serious social problems through voluntary service. Each year, Points ...

award in 2021 for the One Million Meals campaign. The

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

awarded Raza with the Local Community Hero for his humanitarian services in London. He has also been working as the co-chairperson of the UK Pakistan Business Council (UKPBC) to discuss the Pakistani business community concerns with the British prime minister

Early and personal life

Raza was born in

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

, Pakistan. He moved to London with his family during the year 2000. Since 2004, Raza has been living in London, running his family business in the restaurant industry. He is married and has five children.

Career

In 2000, Nasir and his brother Raza began their career as a chef in a restaurant in

Brixton Brixton is an area of South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th century ...

, London. Four years later, they started a restaurant called Spice Village in

Tooting Tooting is a district in South London, forming part of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is located south south-west of Charing Cross. History Tooting has been settled since pre-Anglo-Saxons, Saxon times. The name is of Anglo-Saxon ori ...

south London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

. By 2021, Raza owned multiple branches of his restaurants and served

Pakistani cuisine Pakistani cuisine (, Roman Urdu, romanized: ''pākistānī pakwān'') is a blend of regional cooking styles and flavours from across South Asia, South, Central Asia, Central and West Asia. It is a culmination of Iranic, Indic & Arab culinary ...

in south and

west London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: Central London, N ...

. He also entered into the event business and owned a banquet, Grand Sapphire Hotels. In March 2021, Raza initiated a drive-through in-car dining trend to revive the restaurant and venue business. In August 2021, he entered into Pakistani sports as an owner of the Mirpur Royals squad for the KPL. At the end of the series, Raza celebrated the success of the tournament with his team and congratulated the

Kashmiris Kashmiris () also known as Koshurs are an Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group speaking the Kashmiri language and originating from the Kashmir Valley, which is today located in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (union terr ...

. Raza left Mirpur Royals after the first season.

Philanthropy

He has been running the campaign "No One Eats Alone on Christmas Day" annually since 2015 to serve homeless people in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

, South London. On 23 November 2019, Raza signed an agreement with the

Armed Forces Covenant The Military Covenant or Armed Forces Covenant is a term introduced in 2000 into British public life to refer to the mutual obligations between the United Kingdom and the British Armed Forces. According to ''The Guardian'', "it is an informal unde ...

with Rear Admiral Mike Bath from the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

to support the British armed forces community through his restaurant business. On 1 April 2020, the One Million Meals campaign was launched to serve

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

key workers and other vulnerable people in London. By May 2021, the One Million Meals managed to serve more than 200 locations and 47 hospitals across UK.

Honours and awards

In 2021, he received the

award by

British Prime Minister The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet, and selects its ministers. Modern pri ...

and the GG2 Spirit in the Community Award by the

for running 'One Million Meals' campaign through his restaurant. On 7 September 2021, he was recognized as the Local Community Hero by the

for his charity work in London. By coincidence, Raza was appointed a

Member 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 ...

(MBE) for services to business and philanthropy at the same time that his voluntary organisation, Spice Village Uplyft, was awarded the

Queen's Award for Voluntary Service The King's Award for Voluntary Service, previously known as The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service, is an annual award given to groups in the voluntary sector of the United Kingdom and the Crown Dependencies. Until 2022, awardees were announce ...

(which is equivalent to an MBE) in the

2022 Birthday Honours The 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raza, Suleman Pakistani expatriates in England English chefs English restaurateurs 21st-century English businesspeople People from Rawalpindi English Muslims Male chefs Food activists English activists 1980 births Pakistani cricket administrators English cricket administrators Businesspeople from London English nonprofit businesspeople Living people Members of the Order of the British Empire

Early and personal life

Career

Philanthropy

Honours and awards

See also

References