Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, the Metropolitan Police's National Lead for Counter Terrorism and the Head of the Met Police's Specialist Operations; para-climber Anoushé Husain; serial entrepreneur Adarsh Radia; Rishi Khosla, CEO of unicorn start-up OakNorth; mental health campaigner Poppy Jaman and BBC news presenter Babita Sharma were the proud winners.
The awards celebrated outstanding British Asian talent across arts & media, sports, community service, the professions, uniformed services and business.
The event was attended by around 800 eminent guests including billionaire GP Hinduja, Lord Swaraj Paul; Lord Dolar Popat; Deputy Mayor of London for Business, Rajesh Agrawal; Prof Sir Malcolm Grant CBE, Chairman of NHS England and an array of celebrities, entrepreneurs, MPs, industry leaders, senior professionals and members of the uniformed services.
The awards, launched in the year 2000, are widely recognised as the premier awards to honour UK's high-achieving British Asians. They are hosted by Asian Business Publications Ltd, the publishers of 45-year-old print and online news weeklies Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar. The gala was hosted by Eastenders star Nitin Ganatra and KISS FM's Neev Spencer.
Earlier in the year the call for nominations to the awards received an overwhelming response from readers of Asian Voice, Gujarat Samachar and the wider community, to which CB Patel, Chairman of the hosts ABPL Group said, “The awards have grown in stature year after year and once again we received an overwhelming number of nominations, which is an indication that the success of the British Asian community in various fields continues unabated."
In her message for the event, Prime Minister Theresa May said, “I am proud to have appointed people from a diverse range of backgrounds to leading positions. There is no doubt that we have much further to go, but I am determined to ensure the government looks more like the country it serves, and to see a new generation creating opportunities for people across the whole of the UK."
Speaking at the awards gala, ABPL Chairman CB Patel said: “Our awards recognise unsung heroes within the Asian community, many of who arrived here as migrants. They have made great strides, not only within their communities and professional sectors but also within the wider British society and the UK economy.”
Multimillionaire, hotelier, trustee of the Balaji Temple in Birmingham and Chairman of the Bharitya Vidhya Bhavan, Joginder Sanger was presented the Editor's award for contribution to business, culture and philanthropy.
The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to long serving NHS professional and philanthropist Dr Hasmukh Shah BEM.
Atul Lakhani, CEO of multi-award winning catering and event management specialists Sanjay Foods was presented the Business of the Year award.
Renowned property developer and philanthropist Vraj Pankhania was awarded the Pre-eminent Personality of the year award.
Since its inception Asian Achievers Awards have helped raise close to £1.5million for various charities. This year they helped raise a significant amount to Oracle Cancer, a leading charity funding research into head and neck cancer. The charity auction was hosted by Lord Jeffrey Archer.
The after party had celebrity singer Navin Kundra performing his hit numbers that enthralled the audience.
With your Asian Achievers Awards in their eighteenth year you have done so much to recognise the talents and achievements of so many people across the Asian community in the UK. The Awards have done so much to raise the profile of our community and the contribution we make across all walks of life in the UK.
GOPICHAND P HINDUJ, Co-Chairman, Hinduja Group
What the winners said
We had a really good time at the AAA and we met some really interesting and wonderful people. I know that events like these involve a great deal of hard work and organisation, so I would like to say that it's very much appreciated!
Trishna Bharadia
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It was superbly arranged and very professionally executed. It has certainly been the highlight for me in terms of my career awards to date.
Dr Anil Kumar Ohri
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It is wonderful to be recognised for the work I have done in the community. As a British Bangladeshi I am proud to represent mental health. Events like this bring to fore issues that the South Asian community need to become more aware of and talk about.
Poppy Jaman OBE
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These awards are an important celebration of some of the most outstanding achievements of the UK’s Asian community. I am extremely proud and humbled.
Rishi Khosla
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I feel incredibly honoured to receive this award. For every aspiring journalist I hope this award shows with hard work and a passion to follow your dreams, despite the knock backs and the challenges, you can get there.
BABITA SHARMA
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It is humbling to receive such a prestigious award like this. With this award I want to honour all those unsung heroes out there who are trying hard, failing, getting up and doing it again.
Adarsh Radia
