07 December 2012
Sir Anwar Pervez Receives Bradford Honorary Degree
Bestway Founder Sir Anwar Pervez OBE, H Pk has received an honorary degree from Bradford University in recognition of his commitment to business and support of charities.
Sir Anwar received the degree of Doctor of Laws in the city where his working life began – as a bus conductor – before going on to build the UK’s 7th largest family business. Under his guidance the Bestway Group has since donated over £13 million to support charitable activities in the UK. Sir Anwar was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire O.B.E. in 1992 and a Knight Bachelor in 1999 in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to business and charity.
Born in 1935, Sir Anwar moved from Gujar Khan in Pakistan’s Punjab province to the UK aged 21. His career in the food business began in 1963 when he opened a convenience store in Earls Court before venturing into the cash & carry business in 1976, starting Bestway with a simple ambition – to build business for the independent. His first warehouse in Acton, West London, turned-over £12m in 18 months. The company has diversified and today reports annual turnover in excess of £2.5 billion.
Every year the Group contributes approximately 2.5 per cent of its profit to the Bestway Foundation, established by Sir Anwar in 1987 to help less fortunate individuals and communities in the UK and Pakistan – where he continues to invest in the nation’s future. To date this amounts to more than £13.4m in the UK alone which has supported activities focused on health and education.
Over £2m has been invested in a scholarship programme that has given 450 students of South Asian origin the opportunity to further their education at some of the UK’s leading academic institutions. From 2007 to 2009 the Foundation worked in partnership with the British EduTrust for the establishment of special academies and from 1997-2011 with the Specialist Schools and Academies Programme, donating £0.5m in 35 inner city schools.
The Foundation has also supported the Royal Marsden Hospital Cancer Charity; Crimestoppers; National Hospital Development Fund; Princes Trust; Prince of Wales Pakistan Recovery Fund; GroceryAid; Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity; Barnardos; Save the Children’s Fund; Age Concern; and Child Safety Education Foundation. In 2006 HRH the Duke of Edinburgh honoured its contribution to the success of the DofE Awards, of which Sir Anwar is a Charter Member.
In November 2005 Bestway Group was received the Social Responsibility Award at the JP Morgan Family Business Honours for demonstrating excellent standards of philanthropy and good citizenship.
In Pakistan the Foundation funds 300 scholarships each year; grants to Punjab’s National Management Foundation and University of Engineering and Technology Taxila; and has longstanding relationships with Lahore University of Management Sciences, Foreman Christian College and Beaconhouse National University in the province’s capital. In an ambitious step in 2005 it also adopted 29 government run schools in rural Punjab; over 4000 pupils have benefited from improved learning experiences in a project which included the renovation of school buildings, teacher recruitment and training. The local government recently renewed the agreement for five more years.
Earlier this year classes commenced at the pioneering Farrah Pervez Girls Degree College in Sir Anwar’s home city of Gujar Khan. Constructed with the help of a US$300,000 grant from the Foundation, it will offer girls from the area with free college education. It follows a donation of US$0.5m in 2006 to Care Foundation Pakistan to provide free education to over 150,000 children.
The Pakistan government awarded Sir Anwar the Hilal-e-Pakistan in 2000for his services to the country and the Sitara-e-Pakistan in 2006 for efforts to help those affected by the 2005 earthquake.