Dr Richie Nanda, Executive Chairman of The Shield Group was awarded ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ at the annual Asian Business Awards (ABAs) 2014, on Friday, April 11, at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel, London.
He’s also Executive Chairman of TOPSGRUP, the Indian security company which provides security for such brands as Apple, IBM, TATAs, high profile events such as the IPL and World Cricket Champions League, international celebrities, VIPs and venues such as 30 St Mary’s Axe (The Gherkin) and the Imperial War Museums.
This year’s event celebrated 17 years of the Asian Business Awards which are organised by Asian Media and Marketing Group (AMG) to celebrate UK Asian business. Applauding Dr Nanda at the event included enterprising individuals, public figures and global business laureates primarily from the Indian Subcontinent including Keith Vaz MP, Chairman of the Home Affairs Committee, Priti Patel MP for Witham, one of the UK’s richest billionaires Gopichand Hinduja, Sri Prakash Lohia, Founder and Chairman of Indorama Corporation and Sir Anwar Parez OBE, Chairman of Bestway Group to name but a few. He was presented his award by brothers Vijay and Bhikhu Patel who founded Waymade Healthcare plc and Michael Gove the Coalition Government Secretary of State for Education. Pictured left to right are Vijay Patel, Ramniklal Solanki CBE, Richie Nanda, Michael Gove MP and Bhikhu Patel. Visit http://www.easterneye.eu/ABAwards/index.php?page=winners2014
He has been featured in the Asian Rich List 2014, which is launched each year at the ABAs to profile the country’s 101 richest Asians. Compiled by a panel of external judges and editors of AMG, it is a guide to high net worth individuals and UK Asian business people. Accounting only for the UK wealth of the richest Asians, the combined value of the 101 wealthiest Asians in 2014 stood at £52bn with Dr Nanda’s entry of £115m, making him the 55th richest Asian in the UK. Visit http://www.easterneye.eu/ABAwards/index.php?page=richlist
He said: “I am so honoured and humbled to have been recognised with the award for the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’. I would like to thank the eminent panel of judges at AMG for voting for me.
‘I am extremely proud and delighted at The Shield Group’s success story. I owe this recognition tonight to my talented, dedicated and hard-working team at The Shield Group, who have worked tirelessly to develop and grow the company further, and to take it to the heights that it has currently reached. We have tremendous plans for the future of The Shield Group, and our aim is to position Shield amongst the top four security solutions providers in the UK within the next two years.’
‘Entrepreneurship is the bedrock of our society and I am a great believer that it is the platform for social change on a global level. Being entrepreneurial isn’t just about making the right business decisions but also about taking the right risks and adopting a fresh approach to business life that pushes you to embark on a new challenge and creative path.’
Dr Nanda took over the reins of TOPSGRUP at the age of 22 when it was a company with revenues of £30,000 a year and eight customers, to build it into a security group with revenues in excess of £150 million, 93,000 employees, 120 offices and about 8500 customers.
In 2012 he acquired the UK security company The Shield Group, after the completion of a £19.5m acquisition of Shield, initiated with a 51pc controlling stake in 2008. That made Dr Nanda as the only entrepreneur of an Indian MNC to purchase a 100 per cent stake in a British security company.
TOPSGRUP and The Shield Group reported growth in EBIDTA of 25% in the financial year ending 31/03/14. For the current financial year ending March 2015, the group is expecting to achieve a turnover of £165m with significant EBITDA growth.
