BESTWAY has come a long way from its origins as a small chain of corner shops in the 1960s, and on the other hand it literally hasn’t come a long way at all – the original cash and carry depot was opened 45 years ago in Acton, slightly to the west of where they are based today, at Park Royal, London.

Of course Bestway Group is now an international organisation, with huge interests in Pakistan for example, where its banking and cement industries help to maintain that country’s balance of payments account. In addition to banking and cement and of course wholesale, Bestway is now in petcare, pharmacies, retail, property and all manner of other enterprises, and has a multi-billion pound annual turnover.

Sir Anwar Pervez, a former bus conductor and Lord Zameer Choudrey, who hadn’t visited a city before leaving his Pakistani village for England, have long enjoyed the legend tag in the pantheon of British Asian business figures.

The tale of how more than 50 years ago these poor immigrants opened corner shops in London, then launched a cash and carry empire that turned into an international conglomerate will be familiar to many. What makes its repeat so appealing is that there are always fresh instalments to hook in the reader. It’s a long-running family business saga that just never seems to run out of steam.

Fittingly, they won the coveted top award – Asian Business of the Year – at the annual Asian Business Awards, hosted by the Asian Media Group, which publishes the GG2 Power List, in November 2021.

A well-deserved recognition for the group’s response during the Covid-19 pandemic, adapting with agility and speed in the face of many a supply constraint.

Bestway Wholesale serves more than 130,000 retailers and 3,000 franchisees across the country