Enam Ali

Enam Ali
MBE
Native name এনাম আলি
Born (1960-12-01) 1 December 1960
Sylhet Division, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)
Residence Tadworth, Epsom Downs, Surrey, England
Nationality British
Education Hospitality and Management
Occupation Businessman, publisher/editor
Years active 1998–present
Notable work Le Raj Restaurant,
Spice Business Magazine,
The British Curry Awards
Style Bangladeshi/Indian Cuisine
Religion Islam
Spouse(s) S Ali
Children 3
Website www.enamali.co.uk

Enam Ali, MBE, FIH, FRSA (Bengali: এনাম আলি; born 1 December 1960) is a Bangladeshi-born British businessman. He is the founder of award-winning restaurant Le Raj, The British Curry Awards and Spice Business Magazine.

Early life

Enam Ali was born in Sylhet Division, Bangladesh. In 1974, he came to the United Kingdom to study law as his parents wanted him to become a lawyer, however he instead completed a degree in Hospitality and Management. In Bournemouth he worked two days a week for an American food company while completing his studies. Later, he worked part-time for the Taj Mahal group of restaurants.[1] In 1980, he earned an International Fellowship from the Institute of Hospitality, and in 1990, a fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts.[2]

Career

In 1998, Enam Ali launched Spice Business Magazine, a quarterly trade magazine featuring articles in English and Bengali with information on the restaurant sector and community news which soon maintained an average quarterly readership of over 100,000. Alongside publishing and editing he has been involved with politics since the Thatcherite days and developed outstanding relationships in the political arena, which he makes good use in influencing the government. He has been a member of the Home Office Hospitality Advisory Panel in matters relating to regulation and parliamentary legislation affecting the hospitality industry in which capacity he has been incessantly lobbying at the House of Lords to ensure fairness in the UK government's treatment of legitimate migrant workers.[3]

His hard work extensive research established and promoted the concept of British Curry as an own right cuisine, not just in the UK but worldwide as well. The concept of the “British Curry” is now so well established that it is possible to forget the opposition encountered before the first awards in 2005. There were a lot of people who objected, believing that this was an ‘Indian’ or ‘Bangladeshi’ only product. Enam Ali had to spend a considerable sum of his own money to fight legal battles against those who objected and successfully won these cases, His aim has always been to help British consumers distinguish between the different types of cuisine from the sub-continent of India and he is the pioneered establish "British Curry" as a cuisine in UK. According to trade journal Spice business magazine. In 2005, Ali founded The British Curry Awards to recognise excellence and with the intention of generating headlines and features for the best British curry restaurants, overall and in local categories throughout Britain.[4]

In 2012, the restaurant he founded Le Raj was selected as one of the official food suppliers of the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games.[5] It supplied Bangladeshi halal curry and iftar during Ramadan for 17 days during the Olympics.[6]

In 2013, Ali became Chief Strategy Advisor to the hospitality-sector led charity Terraque Ltd who were already committed to the United Nations Millennium@EDU initiative, which funds deliver of computers to 15 million students by 2015 in the poorest countries, cooperating with Intel and Microsoft to purchase and deliver these at, or close to, cost price.

Mr Enam Ali is a director and Jun 2016 elected president of the British-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce, which was created in 1991.[7] Other countries' bestselling newspapers have used Ali as a contributor and consultee in writing about the increase in domestic curry consumption, best cuisine and global trends.[8][9]

Awards and recognition

In 2009, Ali was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours for his services to the Indian and Bangladeshi restaurant industry.[10]

In 2008, he was a member of the Home Office Hospitality sector advisory panel to ensure fairness in the treatment of the restaurant industry by that department and by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.[11]

In 2011, Ali became the first Muslim and the first representative of the British curry industry to be granted Freedom of the City of London, in recognition of his contribution to the hospitality industry.[12] In the same year, he was awarded Best Business Personality of the Year by his local area (Epsom and Ewell) at their Business Excellence Awards, in recognition of the contribution he has made to the local community by hosting charitable events, raising over £1.02 million in the previous 26 years.

In January 2013, Ali was nominated for the Arts and Culture Awareness award at the British Muslim Awards.[13] In 2014, he was named NRB Person of the year by Millennium Global Magazine.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Enam Ali, the 'Curry Prince' of Britain". The Asians. 10 September 2011. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
  2. ↑ "Enam Ali MBE, AHCIMA FIH, FRSA". Restaurant Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
  3. ↑ "Enam Ali". British Bengali Success Stories. BritBangla. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
  4. ↑ "Enam Ali - a charitable man". The British Curry Awards. 2010. Archived from the original on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  5. ↑ "Enam Ali introduced Asian food in Olympics 2012". The Asians. 1 September 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
  6. ↑ "Bangladeshi-owned restaurant in UK gets Olympic relay torch to display". Daily Sun. 6 September 2012. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
  7. ↑ "Board of Directors". British Bangladesh Chamber Of Commerce. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
  8. ↑ Westland, Naomi (23 April 2014). "Curry crisis heats up in Britain". Washington: The Washington Times. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  9. ↑ Arsiwala, Nicole Dastur (16 December 2012). "India beats China in UK". India: The Times of India. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  10. ↑ May, Lauren (31 December 2008). "Food and drink lead Surrey pair to New Year Honours list". Surrey: This is Surrey. Archived from the original on 22 May 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  11. ↑ Karim, Mohammed Abdul; Karim, Shahadoth (July 2008). British Bangladeshi Who's Who (PDF). British Bangla Media Group. p. 36. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  12. ↑ May, Lauren (14 November 2011). "Epsom restaurateur awarded Freedom of the City of London". You Local Guardian. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  13. ↑ "Winners honoured at British Muslim Awards". Asian Image. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2015.

External links

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