Asian Firms Are Central To Economy

By Graeme King, The Journal Jun 29 2005

Asian businesses are playing an ever larger role in the success of the North-East economy. Graeme King asked what they already contribute, and what more can be achieved.

Businesses run by Asian entrepreneurs have been a key part of the North-East for decades, but have not really entered the mainstream of the business community.

While the Asian population is smaller in this region than in such centres of population as West Yorkshire, Leicester or London, there is now a substantial tranche of Asian-run businesses here.

A recent survey by Barclays found the number of black and minority ethnic (BME) businesses in the North-East now stands at more than 5,000.

And while the number of UK BMEs has risen by a third, from 32,000 in 2000 to 50,000 in 2004, the North-East has played its part in that increase with around 1,000 BMEs started in the region last year alone.

And those BME businesses are also reported to be out-performing their white counterparts - they are three times more likely than white-run companies to have a turnover between £250k and £1m.

Asian Business Forums have sprung up in other UK cities to act as a voice for this growing sector, and to provide advice and networking opportunities to their members, but the North-East has not had such an organisation until recently. It first met three years ago, but has gained momentum and its official launch to 300 Asian business people was only last month.

Now, pharmacist Sunil Paul Khanna, 44, has joined with colleagues in the Asian business community to launch the North-East's very own Asian Business Forum, and it is proving a real success.

Launched with a glitzy dinner held at the Holiday Inn in Newcastle city centre, the forum has quickly become recognised as a point of contact for its constituency.

Mr Khanna, who owns the Medicentre chain of chemists with branches in Jesmond, Heaton, Elswick and on Grainger Street in central Newcastle, launched the ABF knowing that public bodies in the region were fully behind the venture and would support his team's efforts.

He says: "Asian Business Forums in Manchester and London are very successful, and often have government ministers attending them.

"Newcastle is an up and coming place, and we think we are as good as a Manchester or a Birmingham. Public sector bodies like One NorthEast and UKTI and the Government Office thought there should be one too."

Mr Khanna said veteran race relations campaigner Hari Shukla, a former head of the Race Equality Council, had been consulted, and then he and some business associates had gone about founding the organisation.

It now involves not just business people, but solicitors and other professionals all focused on giving their communities a voice.

He says: "The Asian Business Forum was set up to involve everybody in the world of business - either Asians in business, or those doing business with Asians.

"We want to help small businesses get established, and stop them falling down at too early a stage. We also want to be a signposting forum, to direct people to advice and funding, and to create a networking opportunity. For instance, young members with a business problem could talk to somebody with more experience, to get advice."

Solicitor Liaquat Latif is another leading light in the Asian business world - though not an ABF member.

He has just picked up two prestigious prizes, one for his firm and one for his outstanding individual contribution to equality issues in the region, in the 2005 Equality Awards earlier this month.

Mr Latif, who runs Latif Solicitors in the West End of Newcastle, said: "A lot of Asian businesses have done really well in the property boom. If you look at a business like MA Brothers, the halal butchers, they have a £3m turnover and the way they have progressed is very impressive. The standard of their products is very good, compared to London, and they are now sending animals and meat all over the country.

"Then there is Fazal Sweet Centre, which makes sweets and savoury snacks and they are involved in wholesale - sending products to Manchester and up to Scotland."

Mr Latif believes many Asian-owned businesses are changing as a new generation of the families behind them comes to the fore. He said: "Some of the younger kids are taking over, and running the businesses in a more professional, more western way.

"A lot of the young lads here have a good strong identity with the North-East community."

Mr Latif said he had been involved in introducing the local MP, Jim Cousins to the local Asian business community.

He said: "His eyes were really opened - even he did not realise the extent of the way these businesses are moving on."

At the ABF, Mr Khanna has also found the organisation being asked to act as a conduit for bankers, politicians and other decision makers who need to talk to people in the world of Asian business. They have approached the ABF for advice and Mr Khanna and his colleagues have either provided that themselves or directed the inquiry to an appropriate ABF member.

The entrepreneur has a broad outlook on the ABF's role and recognises that it has a role to play not only for its members interests, but in the wider economy.

He says: "Modern Asians recognise the North-East as their home, that they are contributing to society, creating jobs, buying assets, and they want to be involved in what's going on around them. The first generation Anglo-Asians, like me, consider this their home.

"There is perhaps a perception that we just look after ourselves, and are small corner shop people - but Asians have moved on. It would be nice to raise awareness of that."

Mr Khanna says the ABF could also potentially help the region with its widely recognised skills shortage.

He says it may be that government agencies or employers do not recognise that sections of the Asian community might be unwittingly excluded from the employment market, as hours or work practices do not fit in with their culture.

He says: "It's always going to be difficult, with a different culture, traditions and religions.

"There are issues like Bangladeshi women not being in the work market. There are issues which are unique to Asians, that don't apply to the mainstream population.

"There is currently a huge shortage in the workforce in this area - even solicitors have not got the manpower they need. Many businesses want to expand but can't find the people they need.

"So if we have got the workforce here in the North-East, untapped, are we not silly to look outside before exploring that?"

Mr Khanna says the ABF also has a role to play with longer established business bodies in the North-East. He explains: "The CBI has a section for small businesses, and we have a voice to feed into that. And with the Chamber of Commerce, we have representation there too.

"We don't want to be standing alone - to make the North-East a world competitor we have to work together."