Wake Up and Smell the Curry

The Duchess of Cambridge may not be aware of this but she has been a Godsend for at least one enterprising Asian businessman who has become richer by pound50m during the recession partly by exploiting the lsquoKate Middleton effectrsquo Indianorigin Mike Jatania 47 who is the chief executive of Lornamead which makes personal care products introduced lsquoRoyal English Daisyrsquo Eau de Toilette body spray and moisturising body lotion as temporary lines last year to cash in on ldquoPrincess Katersquos wedding to Williamrdquo His products packed in fetching yellow mdash ldquowe think itrsquos a young colourrdquo mdash have proved such a hit worldwide that his net worth has climbed to pound625m placing him 8th on Eastern Eyersquos Asian Rich List 2012 ldquoThe Princess Kate and Prince William story is great for Britain because it is projecting a more youthful evolved image of Britain and what Britain stands for and the new face of the British monarchyrdquo he suggests Trio triumph Mike Mitesh Jatania CEO Lornamead extreme l with his three brothers from l Danny Bharat Vin Vibhaker and George Pravin The brothers anglicised their names to ease their business World Mike Jatania and his three brothers behind Lornamead and other family businesses see the whole world as their potential market place ldquoWe are seeing growth coming through from developing and emerging markets so we are active in Africa in the Middle East and we are active in Asia in countries like India Indonesia South Korea China and Brazilrdquo He goes on ldquoIn Brazil the growth is just phenomenal mdash Brazil is destined to become the world39s biggest beauty care market In the emerging and developing markets we are seeing the new more affluent consumer upgrading from products in their local markets to imported productsrdquo He is also expanding into India ldquoI go to India four or five times a year and we have just recruited a whole team of senior people mdash we have offices in Mumbai and also in Chennai We cannot sell under the Yardley name in India as we sold that part of the business to Wipro in December 2009 But we have over 35 other brands and will focus on Finesse Witch Woods of Windsor Lypsyl and Vosenerdquo Wealthiest Out of the 101 wealthiest Asians featured on the list this year 13 saw their values dip in 2011 compared with 2010 while 19 remained unchanged However no fewer than 69 out of the 101 mdash 68 per cent or two in every three mdash were able to increase their net worth Jatania who was born in Uganda came to Britain as a small boy attended Dulwich College and runs his business with his three brothers explained ldquoThe Princess Kate and Prince William story is great for Britain because it is projecting a more youthful evolved image of Britain and what Britain stands for and the new face of the British monarchyrdquo Culture conscious David Cameron being gifted a statue of Ganesh by Smriti Irani BJP Rajya Sabha member who happened to be in London Left of picture Indian millionaires Ramesh Sachdev and Lord Dolar Popat chairman of Conservative Friends of India Wealthiest The list of the UKrsquos wealthiest 101 businessmen and women mdash 101 is an auspicious number for Hindus rather than 100 mdash was released on in March in London at a dinner for 700 with Boris Johnson the Mayor of London as chief guest ldquoAsians have shown themselves to be remarkably resilient during the recessionrdquo said Shailesh Solanki Eastern Eyersquos executive editor The fastest riser is Ranjit Boparan who is sometimes referred to in the north of England as the ldquochicken kingrdquo He has been able to break through into the top 10 at No 4 from 14th last year thanks to his acquisition of Northern Foods through Boparan Holdings Boparan who employs 18000 people and provides chickens to supermarkets and also owns the iconic Harry Ramsdenrsquos Fish amp Chips chain has seen his value go up by pound600m to pound950m Lakshmi Mittal who lives in Kensington Palace Gardens has a 80 meter yacht the Amevi Lord Swraj Paul spends his weekends at his 250acre country estate in Buckinghamshire the Hindujas have spread their wings and own even more of Carlton House Terrace overlooking the Mall in London Houghtayacht Srichand Hinduja among the yachts in Cannes His is called Param Jamuna after his father and his mother The Hindujas are now on their fourth yacht the Param Jamuna IV PicAmit Roy Mittal At the top of the Rich List Lakshmi Mittal the chairman and chief executive officer of ArcelorMittal is assessed at pound135 billion down pound25 billion compared with the previous year a reflection of the vagaries of the steel market With the eyes of the world focused on the London Olympics this summer 2012 is going to be a big year for Lakshmi Mittal The chances are that the ArcelorMittal Orbit which he immediately agreed to finance when first approached over three years ago by Boris Johnson mdash apparently in a loo in Davos mdash will probably come to be known as the ldquoMittal Monumentrdquo According to official figures from the company ldquoArcelorMittal will fund up to pound196 million of the pound227 million project with the outstanding pound31 million provided by the Greater London Authorityrdquo It was also his personal decision to put money into a sculpture to commemorate the London Olympics and that too looks like paying off Mittal metal Lakshmi Mittal and Boris Johnson Mayor of London view the ArcelorMittal Orbit the biggest piece of public sculpture in Britain designed by Bombayborn Anish Kapoor After an open competition Anish Kapoor who has now probably pipped Anthony Gormley as Britainrsquos most successful contemporary sculptor was picked to design the monument He always works with the brilliant Sri Lankanborn engineer Cecil Balmond Mittalrsquos job was to provide the steel mdashand it came from every continent as a way of embracing the Olympic dream There will be two lifts to take up to 5000 visitors to the top where they will be able to enjoy a cup of coffee and a slice of rich chocolate cake The monument has consumed 2200 tonnes of steel It will be 22 metres taller than the Statue of Liberty To paint it red has required 19000 litres of paint The spiral staircase will be 1150 ft and have 455 steps so visitors will be encouraged to walk down rather than up Hindujas The 2nd ranked Hindujas whose interests in banking to oil and vehicles span the globe are put at pound95 billion up pound500 million on the previous year Their acquisition of a majority stake in Optare a British bus maker means they are ldquomaking thingsrdquo in this country In January this year they took a controlling stake in Optare a British bus maker SP at 76 the head of the family runs the business with the help of his three brothers There is Gopi who lives with him in London Prakash who is based in Switzerland and the youngest Ashok who stays in Mumbai It is especially encouraging that the women are also being brought into the picture Of SPrsquos daughters Shanu has taken charge of the many charitable activities run by the Hinduja Foundation while Vinoo looks after healthcare and the Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai Of the other members of the third generation of Gopirsquos sons Sanjay is responsible for Gulf Oil while Dheeraj is chairman of Ashok Leyland Of Prakashrsquos sons Ajay based in Geneva looks after the Hinduja Bank and Ramkrishan ldquoRemirdquo based in New York is responsible for the group39s IT and BPO activities Lord Paul Lord Swraj Paul has looked into the future and what he sees is carbon fibre or ldquocompositesrdquo to use the correct technical termu00a0Objects that are constructed today from steel could tomorrow be made from carbon fibre says the chairman of the Caparo steel groupu00a0 Walk along Lord Swraj Paul enjoying a walk on his 250acre country estate PicAmit Roy Caparo is in the business of making parts for cars an area that has been a passion with his youngest son Angad Caparorsquos Chief Executive Officer CEO ldquoWe are big in automobile components mdash by and large every car in Europe has some parts from usrdquo He goes on ldquoCaparo steel products are also going into high tech mdashwe make very fine wire for all sorts of purpose We donrsquot make surgical equipment but we make strips for surgical equipmentrdquo Hotels Hotels constitute another sector that has performed well and with the Olympics those in London should do even better Surinder Arora who is ranked 16th is developing prestige projects at Royal Ascot and at the Oval cricket ground His valuation has gone up by pound175m to pound325m Bombay Boys Kishore Lulla What next for Kishore Lulla who has pretty much established himself as the UKrsquos lsquoMr Bollywoodrsquo Is it hype when the 49yearold executive chairman of Eros International says he foresees a future which may not be long in coming when Bollywood will be level pegging with Hollywood Lulla has been distributing Hindi films in the UK since he moved to London in 1980 The company was set up by his father Arjan Lulla in Bombay in 1977 What was once essentially an ethnic business with Hindi films shown in dilapidated cinemas in the immigrant areas of Britain is now a reflection of the brisker new India An important change occurred in 2006 when Eros International was floated on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange So far as business is concerned Lulla tells one interviewer of ldquoRule number one mdash donrsquot lose money Rule two mdash follow Rule one There is nothing else rightrdquo Lord Gulam Noon The most significant business decision Lord Gulam Noon has taken over the past 12 months has been to launch halal frozen curries mdash initially for the UK market but with the Middle East and France and Germany also in mind ldquoThis is a very challenging job I have on my hand because we have pumped in a lot of money into buying equipment mdash I have built a separate factory for this in Southallrdquo he says After extensive market research and getting ldquoMuslims ladies to test the meals to make sure they were like homecooked foodrdquo Noon began retailing the halal range in March 2012 The entrepreneur who is known as ldquothe Curry Kingrdquo says ldquoAs founder of Noon Products we had done ready meals for the mass community but over a period of time I felt that a lot of Muslims were sticking to halal meals But they were unable to find good quality halal mealsrdquou00a0