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The
Retail Food & Franchise Excellence Award:
Riaz
Ahmed, Founder of Sweet Dreams,
started his career at the bed manufacturer Silentnight. He spent 16
years working for the firm, latterly as a works manager in the United
Arab Emirates for six years. Upon returning to Britain there was no
similar position available so in 1985 he set up his own business,
making headboards. Sweet Dreams was incorporated in 1988 at which
time the business had extended to include bed manufacture. Over 20
years he has built the business to a level where Sweet Dreams filed
pre-tax profits of £1.09 million on a turnover of £18.5
million for the year ending March 2007. This result is remarkable,
considering that a suspected arson attack in 2005 resulted in the
business losing approximately £2 million. A combination of other
factors, including the loss of credit insurance, the tightening up of
banks and their largest customer going into administration, left Riaz
and his team with a huge challenge. However, under his stewardship,
the situation was turned around and now Sweet Dreams is one of the
market leaders with a leaner, financially stronger business.
Anisha
Sawhney, Founder of Avinand,
was born in 1979 and raised in Liverpool, growing up around her
father's wholesale business. She gained a BA (Hons) in History from
UCL, and concluded her postgraduate studies at Liverpool University.
Despite her qualifications and business background, Anisha was turned
down by various banks for business starter loans. In 2001, she
realised that Liverpool was on the cusp of a property boom and began
to renovate houses. Anisha reinvested the profits into her own
expanding private portfolio which now encompasses over 25 properties.
In the last year, she has fulfilled the demand in Liverpool's market
for hotels, and for a variety of accommodation. Using her property
background, her new offshoot is serviced apartments catering
primarily to the budget airline market. Her no frills, Airport
Apartments, is growing in popularity and has landed contracts with
notable hotel space providers and airlines alike, including contracts
with companies such as Expedia.com and airlines including Ryanair and Easyjet.
Irfan
& Ehsan Naseem established Envious
Limited in 2003. Brothers Irfan, 27, and Ehsan, 25, have
seen their initial outlay of £8k transform into a business with
a turnover last year of £1.09 million. From the outset, Envious
has established itself as a leading market distributor of modern
consumer products combining style, innovation, design and technology.
The company proactively selects markets and distributes the best
cutting-edge audio, visual, mobile technology and lifestyle products
to some of the biggest names in retail: Hamleys, Toy Store,
iwantoneofthose.com and Selfridges, to name but a few. Envious prides
itself on maintaining excellent relationships with brand partners and
clients, whilst delivering a service above and beyond the realm of a
typical distribution partner.
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