Zameer Choudrey was awarded his CBE as part of the Queen’s New Year 2016 Honours List in recognition of his contributions to advancing Britain through his services to the UK Wholesale industry and the wide array of philanthropic work he passionately engages in both in the UK and abroad.
Mr Choudrey appreciates the significance of this appointment, saying: “I cannot begin to express how honoured I am to have been included by the Queen in her New Years Honours List. It gives me great pleasure to be recognised for my contributions in this manner. These honours represent everything that makes Britain great reinforcing how it doesn’t matter where you have come from, what matters is your work ethic and the impact you can make. It shows what matters is that you contribute and you help to make Britain even better, something many immigrants do on a daily basis across the nation.”
He continued: “At Bestway, we strive to sit at the heart of local communities throughout Britain, servicing them and supporting them however we can – whether that be by providing food and drink to local shopkeepers through our Wholesale business, or providing medicines and health services through Well Pharmacy, or whether that be by providing support to those in need through Bestway Foundation and its charitable work.”
Having graduated in Accountancy from the University of Kent in 1981, Mr Choudrey joined Bestway in 1984 as Financial Controller, before being appointed to the role of Chief Executive for Bestway Group in 2004.
During his tenure as Chief Executive of the Group, Mr Choudrey has led the group to invest almost £300m into the UK wholesale and retail sectors. He has overseen the takeovers of Batleys, Martex, Bellevue and most recently Sher Brothers in addition to establishing a greater footprint for Bestway in England and Scotland. His latest acquisition of Co-op Pharmacy – the UK’s third largest retail pharmacy group which has since been rebranded to Well Pharmacy – was finalised in a deal worth £620m in October 2014 and has set the company on yet another pathway to growth.
