Yorkshire Asian Business Association - Eid Special Supplement 2021

EID SPECIAL

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Welcome fromEditor FATIMA PATEL ASIAN SUNDAY ONLINE Eid Mubarak to all YABA members and friends.

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t’s been a tumultuous past 18 months for many of us and our businesses. The meaning of ‘business as usual’ has taken on an entirely new meaning and many of us have had to rethink our entire business model and strategy.

As an owner of a media business, which I started in 2011, I know only too well the ups

and downs of the business graph.

When the coronavirus pandemic hit in March 2020, like many of you I feared the worse for our independent media title Asian Sunday Newspaper, especially with advertisers cancelling their contracts due to lockdown and business closure.

However, as they say in adversity sometimes, we have to look hard and find the opportunity – and that’s exactly what my team and I did.

Our news brand Asian Sunday newspaper, launched in Bradford in 2011, making history, as the UK’s first FREE Sunday newspaper.

Asian Sunday born in Bradford in 2011

The newspaper brand quickly established itself as a benchmark publication – the first Sunday title across the UK Asian media sector; highlighting news that focuses on

South Asians living and working and their lifestyle in the UK and sharing this insight with the wider community by distributing the newspaper free; and the first newspaper to be solo-owned by a woman.

The concept and strategy of Asian Sunday was initiated across my parents’ portfolio of Yorkshire-based newsagents, where as a youngster I helped with sorting and delivering the newspapers door-todoor. The idea was born to deliver a free, Sunday paper directly to homes, allowing households to enjoy their lazy Sundays and guaranteeing readership through door-to-door delivery. Cross-community awareness and bridging the gap between local, diverse communities lies at the heart of our newspaper.

Editorial content for Asian Sunday spans politics, news, lifestyle, arts, culture and

entertainment, beyond the stereotypical and encouraging interaction and dialogue with youth audiences also.

Fuelled by the success of the Bradford edition in achieving recognition and fostering cross-community relations between the South Asian and wider, local communities, in 2013 I then decided to

A range of celebrities, politicians and personalities locally, nationally and globally have featured in Asian Sunday

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– Let's Talk, which helped us quickly gain YouTube partner status, which allowed us to continue to progress Asian Sunday as a leading multi-media news platform.

introduce the newspaper to the capital, launching in East London as a starting point, reaching its abundance of diverse communities alongside the local, South Asian community.

As revenue was secured Asian Standard started releasing as a weekly print news title and today, we have grown into four regional print news titles; Asian Standard Bradford, Asian Standard Kirklees, Asian Standard North East and Asian Standard Leeds, which work alongside Asian Sunday Online – the national brand.

This was hugely supported by British Airways whose ethos matches that of Asian Sunday of building bridges and connecting communities and enterprise. Other supporters included members of Bradford Council, Mp's at the time Keith Vaz, Anas Sarwar, Yasmin Qureshi, David Ward with a tribute and honour to fellow Bradfordians Kimberley Walsh, Steven Frayne (aka Dynamo) and Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor Khan.

It was a milestone achievement for a girl from Bradford to enter London and have such a successful newspaper launch at the House of Parliament within just two years in the business, however destiny had other plans.

Tragedy struck and due to a fall on the night of the newspaper launch, I was hospitalised, and bed bound with ongoing health complications for almost two years.

So, steering the Asian Sunday London news title became difficult and sadly it had to close. With further health complications the Asian Sunday Bradford title also started struggling and in 2014 a decision was made to completely close the newspaper.

However, encouragement from readers, through their letters and social media, along with the strong belief and unconditional support from my mother, Mrs Rokaiya Patel, after almost giving up on the news title I returned to full time work in 2015.

After a gap coming back to business was extremely testing. Regional print newspapers were already struggling with advertising revenue at an all time low and

Official launch of Asian Sunday Newspaper on 21 August 2011 at Bradford City Hall

video content, video news as wellas general news relating to the UK's South Asian community to meet with the demand of online news and for Asian Standard Newspaper to become the new weekday print title (reducing the extra cost of a Sunday production) but keeping our print readers engaged and satisfied. This was a ten-year plan.

Early years famous Indian singers endorsing Asian Sunday newspaper

to keep on top of the fast-paced producing of online news articles made the challenge to continue and sustain the newspaper even harder. However, audaciously it was time to re-invent ourselves, and so in the background I started to tease an idea of a weekday title – Asian Standard and had started putting that into production. The plan was to eventually make Asian Sunday into a multimedia platform, which would produce

London newspaper launch at the House of Commons with Kimberley Walsh, Bollywood's Kareena Kapoor Khan and Dynamo

So, with strong belief in our work, determination, and the desire to represent our communities, to champion those unheard voices, and now with my mum as a director we continued ahead and launched Asian Sunday Kirklees in 2018, while working on developing Asian Standard in the background.

Over the last two years since making Asian Sunday fully digital and rebranding it as Asian Sunday Online our company, RF Publishing Ltd, has seen unprecedented growth and plans to continue growing online, with further shows planned, such as Simmering Sunday's – a unique food show, a make-overs show, a panel style guest show and more. There is lots planned for print also, where we hope to increase our presence by launching a further six Asian Standard regional titles by 2025 This past decade our company has seen and faced many challenges, but we are proud that today we have more than 150,000 people reading our newspapers every week and more than half a million readers online.

Both Asian Sunday Bradford and Asian Sunday Kirklees managed to make impact and were managing to sustain themselves, until March 2020 arrived with the announcement of an unprecedented lockdown.

All our business associates, sponsors and advertisers started cancelling their agreements, due to the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic. This made it difficult to print Asian Sunday, however the need for news became increasingly important, especially as inequalities resurfaced and the need for representation became ever more compelling, this coupled with the battle to combat fake news that was prevalent online. The need for a credible ethnic news title like ours became increasingly more in demand.

So, to survive we brought our ten-year plan forward and quickly moved Asian Sunday to focusing on online news and started creating video content, such as video news, interviews and our talk show

Working behind the scenes interviewing top talent

But what makes me more proud is that we have achieved our mission of ensuring that our newspaper doesn't just reach the South Asian communities but also engages wider communities, to bridge the gap of understanding respecting other people's faiths, lifestyles, cultures by way of learning and if anything to get the conversations started.

So there you have it, that's our ten years in a nut shell. Now I want to hear your story. So please do reach out to me or my team either through the team at YABA or via email editor@asiansunday.co.uk, so we can continue to celebrate our milestones, but also our challenges. Eid Mubarak All

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INSIGHT INTO

YABA

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ABA was established with the aim of providing a voice for the Asian business community across Yorkshire.

The contribution of the British Asian community is often overlooked, despite generating an impressive 10% of the country’s GDP with only a 6% population share according to research published by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). YABA ensures that the achievements of these business are not ignored with corporate members gaining access to: YABA E-news, YABA cultural events and bespoke events targeting specific segments of the membership.

We organise an annual awards dinner which celebrates and showcases the best of the Asian community across Yorkshire.

Celebrating

EID WITH YABA W Since the Yorkshire Asian Business Associations (YABA) formation, we have continued to go from strength to strength. Our board consists of experts from government, education, business, voluntary sector and across almost every discipline. What unites us is our passion for business and delivering value to our members and the region.

Chairman Amarjit Singh

Eid Mubarak from all of us at YABA!

e are thoroughly excited to meet with our sponsors and corporate members

again after a difficult year for all of us, as we use this time to come together and celebrate this important festival of Eid. Let’s take this time to enjoy these moments and look back at the sacrifices we have all made to keep each other safe during this global pandemic.

Our events are all about giving you the best possible experience in a safe, hospitable environment and creating culture of kindness. We hope you feel welcomed and take this opportunity to make new relationships with our other corporate members. This wouldn’t have been possible without the generosity shown by Schofield Sweeney to fund the catering, provided by My Lahore.

We’d also like to express gratitude to Bradford Cedar Court for hosting us at this wonderful venue. We are also grateful for RF Publishing Ltd for supporting this event.

Throughout the event, we give our

sponsors and corporate members the opportune time to give an informing speech about their organisation. There will also be time for networking, where we encourage everybody to hand out leaflets and enquire more about each other.

YABA is privileged to have esteemed guests join us: Deputy Lieutenant - Dr Manoj N L Joshi Member of Parliament - Nadhim Zahawi - Minister for COVID Vaccine Deployment Consulate of Pakistan - Mr. Ibrar Hussain Khan Consul General Mayor - Tracy Brabin Significance of Eid Presentation Iman Qari Asim MBE Northern Trains - Tony Baxter Director We really appreciate you joining us in celebrating this very special occasion and we look forward to seeing you at future events!

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OUR SUPPORTERS FOR NORTHERN ASIAN POWER LIST 2020 LORD BILIMORIA OF CHELSEA CBE DL

It gives me great pleasure to support the celebration of the contribution and impact British Asians are having in every community across the North of England. The Northern Asian Powerlist 2020 has profled the achievements of the top Asian businesses, professionals’ influencers and politicians from the media and the arts to science technology and medicine the Asian community is making its presence ft. As the birthplace of the

industrial revolution, the North has a long history of fostering innovation Contributing to nearly 19% of the UKs GDP. the North represents over 15 million people and more than one million private sector businesses. With over 20 universities, many of them globally renowned it presents a great academic and research ecosystem geared to science and technology innovation Connected to the rest of the world through seven international airports and

major ports is a high potential and high-impact region. For the UK to prosper, it needs to increase its productivity across all regions, and it needs to harness every bit of talent available across the North and beyond We have so much talent across all of our communities. This list not only highlights the achievements of a diverse UK Pic and the North in particular but also acts as an inspiration for generations to come.

SIR ROGER MARSH OBE DL

The Northern Asian Powerlist 2020 shines a spotlight on the significate and sustained contribution of the Asian business community across the Northern Powerhouse. It is an opportunity to celebrate the exceptional business and cultural leaders who are driving innovation and economic growth and accelerating the success of our regions, the North and the UK as a whole. The North is a place where diverse businesses thrive and this report showcases, and is dedicated to the many inspirational business and cultural leaders from

across the Northern Powerhouse International collaboration trade and investment are crucial to ensure sustained economic growth and we are committed to developing stronger links with the Indian subcontinent to drive forward global trade and inward investment initiatives India for example, is now the UK’s secondlargest source of foreign direct investment and connecting the Northern Powerhouse to India-one of the fastest growing economies in the world-will further boost this growth Trade between the UK and India was

worth 24bin 2019 and presents a huge opportunity for businesses across the North Expanding and deepening our trade relationships with the Indian subcontinent is key to supporting business growth and recovery as we transition from Europe and meet the challenges presented by the global pandemic. I am honoured to be part of the judging panel of the Northern Asian Powerlist 2020 and I hope you will join me in celebrating the success of the Asian business community across the Northern Powerhouse in the pages that follow

Chair of the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and NP11

INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT DR. SHASHANK VIKRAM Consul General of India, Birmingham

As the Consul General of India based in Birmingham, I convey my best wishes to the Indian diaspora in the region We strive to support the Indian investors who are operating in the North and try to facilitate and assist in every way we can. Given the North of England’s core economic strengths in the digital sciences advanced manufacturing and energy sectors, close alignment with the key strategic and economic interests of both nations presents a major opportunity for the North to play a critical role in shaping the future of the UK-India relationship.

HE MR. MOHAMMAD NAFEES ZAKARIA High Commissioner for Pakistan I congratulate YABA and its partners on producing a publication that I believe will provide us with useful information on Asian impacts and influences across the UK’s Northern Powerhouse This report recognises the powerhouse of economic activity that constitutes the British Asian community particularly in the North of England and recognises its immense contributions across all walks of life. From the fields of arts and media, to science technology and medicine, the Asian community is making its presence felt, not only across the UK but also across the globe.

HE MS. SAIDA MUNA TASNEEM High Commissioner for Bangladesh

I am very pleased to hear that VABA is going to profile the top 100 Asian businesses, professional influencers and third sector leaders across the north of England for 2020. This is indeed a very encouraging initiative The Asiane constitute 4% of the UK’s total population and they are contributing over 20 each year to the UK economy I have been appraised that YABA was founded to recognise the unique achievements of the Asian business community for the UK economy and British society I much appreciate the is pursuing for addressing the businesses faced by the Asian business community especially focusing on the business sphere of the North of England.

HE Mr. Mohammad Nafees Zakaria, High Commissioner for Pakistan I congratulate YABA and its partners on producing a publication that I believe will provide us with useful information on Asian impacts and influences across the UK’s Northern Powerhouse This report recognises the powerhouse of economic activity that constitutes the British Asian community particularly in the North of England and recognises its immense contributions across all walks of life. From the fields of arts and media, to science technology and medicine, the Asian community is making its presence felt, not only across the UK but also across the globe.

HE SAROJA SIRISENA

HE SAID T. JAWAD

High Commissioner for the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Ambassador of Afghanistan to the United Kingdom

I wish to acknowledge the organisers for the remarkable initiative of recognising British Adian influencers and applauding the Asian presence and contribution. The engagement of the eminent panellists in conducting the difficult task of selecting candidates in diverse fields is noteworthy Among the top 100 British Asians represent the extraordinary movers and shakers of diverse sectors such an business, politics and diplomacy, digital and technology food and beverages, research and innovation environment, social and cultural as well as business leaders, especially women, and emerging entrepreneurs inspiring professionals and other individuals that have made a profound difference to society Finally, I wish to congratulate all the winners for their achievements and initiatives as well as for being inspirational leaders and role models for the ned generation.

As Afghanistan aspires to build a sustainable economy, the ever-increasing interconnectedness facilitated by the British Asian community has become a vital source of investment and innovation Commercial opportunities driven by actors based in the UK will play an important role in growing economic opportunities and creating jobs in Afghanistan, as well as helping us to get to grips with the most important trends in the world economy This report recognises the powerhouse of economic activity that constitutes the British Asian community particularly in the North of England, and recognises its immense contributions across all walks of life. From the fields of art and media to science technology and medicine, the Asian community is making its presence felt, not only across the UK, but also across the globe.

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NOMINATE NOW FOR NORTHERN

ASIAN POWERLIST 2022 T he inaugural Northern Asian Powerlist took place in 2020 which showcased the prominent businesses, professionals, influencers, women, media, politicians and third sector across the northern powerhouse. There are 4.3 million British Asians in the UK contributing £120 billion to the economy each year, also enhancing the livelihoods across our towns and cities. The Northern Asian Powerlist is about telling that story and illuminating these leading figures.

Politics and Diplomacy RISHI SUNAK Chancellor of the Exchequer and MP for Richmond.

Business Leader SIMON ARORA Chief executive of B&M Group.

Sharon Jandu Project Director for the Northern Asian Powerlist, who developed the idea following her experience as an Asian business woman and in holding several highprofile roles throughout her own career says, “This is about recognition for successful British Asians in business who are based in the North from their peers and from leaders from all walks of life. There are some fantastic stories here in this Powerlist and I hope that everybody will take a close look at the stories of grit, of achievement and pushing

Digital Technology FURQAN ALAMGIR Founder and chief executive of Connexin.

Women in Business KARINA JADHAV Director of Menagerie Restaurant.

the boundaries. Against the backdrop of global uncertainty, it is these stories that bring us back to what matters and keeps us optimistic. We want these brilliant people to be role models for people of all backgrounds to strive, to achieve, to be their best.”

Looking forward to 2022, we are hoping to build on this and you can help, by nominating successful British Asians who are based in the North, there are eleven different categories to nominate people for these

Emerging Entrepreneur SONYA BACHRA Byrne, co-founder and creative director of AVIE.

Emerging Leader AMIR HUSSAIN Chief executive of Yeme Architects.

are political leadership, driving the digital economy, entrepreneurial zeal, inspiring others, contributing to our environment, being a social change maker, a cultural icon, a leading woman and an emerging leader. This is so we can highlight people across the spectrum and bring to light the many impactful British Asians who are leading their communities here in the north.

The winners from last year are;

Inspiring Professionals SYIMA ASLAM Managing director and artistic director of Bradford Literature Festival.

Thought Leaders NAZIR AFZAL Former chief crown prosecutor for North West England.

If whilst reading this, someone has sprung to mind to nominate, we encourage you to do so, you can nominate worthy British Asian leading figures either by going to the Northern Asian Powerlist website or by emailing Sharon Jandu directly at sharon@yaba.uk.com Cultural Icons KULLY THIARAI Creative director of Leeds Culture Trust.

Food and Drink MOHAMMED ISHAQ Owner of The Punjab Kitchen.

Social Changemakers HANIF MALIK AND RIFHAT MALIK

with your nominee! We look forward to celebrating British Asian Excellence with you in 2022.

YABA IN THE COMMUNITY

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he team at YABA also work on charitable projects aimed at supporting people who need help the most. Whilst YABA believes businesses naturally have a responsibility to help the community, they take it a step further by tackling big issues and championing change.

One of these initiatives is the partnership with Teach, Learn and Make with Raspberry Pi. This has secured brand new Raspberry Pi 400 computers (including monitors, headsets and webcams) to primary school children who don’t have digital access at home as well as other problems. This has been achieved at two local schools, where training will also be offered to ensure

students get the most out of the set-up.

Having access to technology has only become more important for learning during the pandemic and this should give these students the best chance to succeed.

This is also aimed at children with learning disabilities, who can learn how to use a computer and be able to express themselves more.

This was possible due to the work of two charities. The Raspberry Pi Foundation were responsible for the computers and other equipment to give to the children in need.

The second was Global Diversity, which had knowledge of the general area to know which schools would benefit the most from

this project. The two schools who received the equipment were Warwick Road Primary School in Batley and Moor End Academy in Crosland Moor. What makes this project great is that it allows children who may not have the same opportunities as others in their year or class to access the digital world and learn valuable skills for life.

Kash Rafiq, Principal of Moor End Academy commented saying "We would like to say a massive thank you to Raspberry Pi for donating the computers, the students selected for the computers have been the worst affected during lockdown. One student said; I'm so lucky I've been chosen; I've never had anything like this before." If

you would like to get involved with projects like this contact Sharon Jandu at sharon@ yaba.uk.com

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NO ONE SAFE UNTIL EVERYONE IS SAFE….

How YABA changed the vaccine misconceptions...

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he Covid-19 pandemic impacted businesses immensely, many businesses were forced to rethink how they operate and stay afloat. From work from home to furlough schemes, businesses had to rapidly adjust to the needs of their people, customers and clients, almost overnight.

Today’s business owners are still faced with new challenges and are continuing to change amongst the many phases of this pandemic.

Suppliers and employers are all looking for stability during these everchanging times and this has put immense pressure on big and small businesses alike to deliver according to the evolving demand and find new and unique pathways to insure stability for all.

Amidst all this change businesses still found ways to reach out and help people within our communities old and young, YABA, a membership organisation being one of them has truly become a reliable community advocate and trusted advisor, but it is your support that is needed to run a campaign

which is to help promote the roll out of the vaccine and keep reminding the community of the simple steps to take, like wearing a mask when necessary, hand washing, social distancing and being tested regularly. The roll out of the Covid-19 vaccine has been incredible and is having such a huge impact on the reduction of the number of people in hospitals and the deaths related to the virus, however that being said there is still so much more that needs to be done to promote this further and as a community we cannot become complacent.

There are still members of the BAME (Black Asian Minority Ethnic) community who are resisting the vaccine and as more and more restrictions are lifted, we have to make sure our infection rate does not increase and lead to more people being admitted to hospital or losing their lives. YABA will be reinforcing the message that by working together we can bring the infection rate down and will get our lives back to normal.

CORPORATE PARTNERS

JOIN THE

YABA COMMUNITY AMBASSADOR NETWORK

YABA are looking to recruit new ambassadors, here’s how to become one If you are looking for an opportunity to support your community. YABA has lots of exciting and rewarding roles for you.

As well as highlighting the achievements of the British Asian community, YABA also provides comprehensive business support to its members. This is done through nurturing a business community where members connect, network and are represented at all levels (local, national and international).

Full training will be offered and travel expenses will be paid for. As a YABA Community Ambassador you will be promoting YABA within the community.

For further details Please visit www.yabauk.com or contact Sharon@yaba.uk.com

BECOME A YABA CORPORATE MEMBER How to become a corporate member?

Corporate Partners enjoy numerous benefits of being a strategic member of YABA, including special access to our members and more.

You can be involved in creating a growing business community, business engagement with our members and access to all our events and activities or effect changes to government policy. We will help and support you with exclusive networking events aimed at achieving set business criteria and objectives as well as look at international opportunities including inward investment in to Yorkshire.

Please visit www.yabauk.com or contact Sharon@yaba.uk.com

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