ASIAN GIANT SURINDER ARORA, FOUNDER & CHAIRMAN, ARORA GROUP
FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS Surinder Arora was thirteen when he arrived in England from Indian Punjab. “I didn’t know the English alphabet when I left Punjab because they were just starting to teach English during the year I left for England,” says Surinder. Having struggled through GCSEs, he joined British Airways as a clerk at the age of 18 and following that he became a financial advisor with Abbey Life. As a lad he harboured a desire to become a policeman but a family friend suggested that he try his hand at flying. “He took me to the London School of Flying and paid for the first lesson. I loved it and said to my mum and dad that that is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. At £21 an hour, flying lessons were beyond my means, so I worked two jobs; at British Airways during the day for £34 a week and at the Penta Hotel, now the Renaissance, in the evenings as a wine waiter,” says Surinder. Using the earnings from his two jobs, he gained his private pilot’s licence (PPL) in 1978 and in 1982 he married Sunita, his wife and business partner of 35 years.
WHETHER IT IS BEING A WAITER OR PORTER, IF YOU ARE WILLING TO WORK HARD AND COMMIT YOURSELF TO THE JOB IT WILL PAY OFF.
EARLY FORAY INTO PROPERTY Surinder first dabbled in property and real estate in the mid 80s. He bought four semi-derelict houses opposite the British Airways Compass centre at an auction for £40,000 each, renovated them and rented them out as guest houses. Soon afterwards he bought adjoining properties. In the mid 90s he identified an opportunity to build a hotel at Heathrow for the crew of British Airways. “Back then the British Airways crew didn’t like the hotel they were staying in so I wrote to BA and offered to build a hotel opposite their crew centre. They asked me to make a one-hour presentation to them,” says Surinder. He knew very little about hotels so he took along with him to the presentation a friend who was an architect. It didn’t take long for the executives at BA to realise that he was a novice in the hotel business and his offer was turned down. His bank too was not convinced and said to him, “Things can go horribly wrong and it can lead to a budget overrun.” After much persuasion he won over BA and the bank and got planning permission against all odds. The hotel was completed early and within budget.
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ASIAN GIANT I SPRING 2018
DREAMS, RISKS AND REWARDS To be successful Surinder believes that one doesn’t have to be exceptional. “If a person like me can make it happen, anyone can,” he says humbly. “You must have a dream before you can turn it into reality. If you don’t have dreams how can you turn anything into reality? But then again, a dream is not a mere pie in the sky,” say Surinder. He firmly believes that it is important to take risks in order to turn a dream into reality. He says, “You have to take risks in life but take calculated risks as life is all about risk and reward. You can’t have the reward without the risk. Take things one step at a time, don’t scramble up the ladder in haste because if you fall the consequences can be disastrous and far-reaching.”
RIGHT ATTITUDE, FAMILY VALUES: KEY TO SUCCESS Says Surinder, “I have seen successful businesses built by the first generation ruined by the second and third
generations due to wrong values and attitudes. My children are very fortunate to have a platform that we didn’t have. We had to start by sweeping the floors. How can we ensure that future generations can carry on that dream and take the businesses to the next level? One of the ways, I guess, is the upbringing of families. I always make sure and teach our children to not just look at the step ahead, but also take a look at the step behind. By looking a step ahead you will always remain ambitious, but looking a step behind will ensure that you will never forget the past, you need to get the right balance.” “That is why, when my children, Sanjay, now a Director in the Group, Sapna and Sonia were growing up doing their A levels and going to university I made sure that they worked in the local supermarkets. My daughter worked at Thorntons and Sanjay worked as a porter in a couple of my hotels. I wanted to make sure that they live in the real world and not just have a wad of cash to spend.”