This was the cry from the guest speaker Jindy Khera, the MD of KTC Edibles at the Black Country Asian Business Awards held at the Wolverhampton Racecourse on Friday the 19th June. The MD of the £200 million turnover company based in Wednesbury explained how the family owned business had survived through three recessions by keeping their overheads lean and operating on a low cost basis. He also emphasised the importance of succession planning and giving key employees a stake in the company through share options. He also described the journey from a single retail outlet in Walsall to one which has now sites in Liverpool and Wednesbury employing over 300 personnel. The business has evolved from manufacturing edible oil to drinks and snacks. The overall key to success Mr Khera, argued was persistence, understanding your cost basis and employing technology to maximise your return on capital.
The 14th BCABA Business awards celebrated a number of awards. The main winners on the night were family owned the Gill Group, a national company with offices in the Black Country and Birmingham. Operating in different sectors such as civil engineering, aggregates, aviation, builders merchants and insurance, the firms headquarters a stone throw away from West Bromwich Albion FC generate a turnover in excess fo £50 million employing over 200 people. Its private jet operation carries celebraties including premiership football teams such as Manchester City, Liverpool and her majesty the Queen.
Other award winners included :
Business Start up – Red leaf
Young Entrepreneur – Bill Aulak (Cake Shop)
Community Excellence – GNG Nursery
Regeneration – Lakshmi Sweets
Business Person of the Year – Jitha Sahota (CBS packaging)
Innovation and Enterprise – Interactive Education
International Trade – Zeel Solutions
Business of the Year – Gill Group
Lifetime Achievement Award for Music – Apachi Indian
Lifetime Achievement Award for Business – Lord Paul
The headline sponsor for the event was Nachural and other sponsors included :
Mr Ninder Johal who is stepping down as Chairman of BCABA and who is also the President of the Black Country Chamber of Commerce and a Black Country LEP Board member spoke about the positive growth of the UK economy over the last 5 quarters and how businesses should look to maximise the opportunities available to them in an ever increasing global marketplace.
He referred to the need for Government to create a conducive environment for businesses to operate in. Mr Johal also asked the government to reduce the regulatory environment and to increase the incentives for businesses to invest in Research and Development by increasing the reliefs available in particular to SME’s.
Mr Johal continued on the theme of youth unemployment and asked for the business community to work closely with the local universities and local colleges to address the skills mismatch and to look to encourage others to start businesses to reduce the productivity gap of £7.8 billion.
Mr Johal reemphasized the need for national and local government to continue to work together and for local government to build on the successful work undertaken by the local enterprise partnership. Mr Johal referred to the contribution of asian businesses to the local economy employing thousands of people and that their influence was spread over a number of sectors.
Promise Dreams was the charity on the night where over 550 people attended and where over £5000 was raised. Host for the evening was Tommy Sandhu, a BBC presenter and the music for the evening was produced by Amarun Johal.
