Indian businessman wins Queen's Enterprise Award

A prominent Indian businessman's food processing plant in Britain has won the prestigious Queen's Enterprise Award 2017 for its exceptional contribution to the UK's trade, industry and economy.

Yusaffali MA, 61, said the recognition for his Birmingham-based Y International (UK) Ltd will spur his Abu Dhabi headquartered Lulu Group International to further expand business interests in the UK.

"I am extremely honoured and proud to hear the news about Y International UK Ltd being selected for the prestigious Queen's Award this year. This great recognition will surely help us further strengthen our plans to expand business interests in UK and continue with our innovations and contributions to the dynamic economy of UK," the Kerala-born, UAE-based entrepreneur said in a statement.

Y International UK Ltd's food processing plant, which employs 300 local staff, was established in Birmingham in 2013 to source and process food products from UK to support the demand for high-quality British products for sale in Lulu Group's hypermarkets across the Middle East, India and Far East.

"We are in the process of setting up another world-class food processing plant in the 12.5 acres of land allotted by Birmingham City Council, to further boost our exports and cover bigger variety of products. The planned investment would be to the tune of £36 million," Yusuffali said.

The Queen's Award for Enterprise is conferred annually by Queen Elizabeth on her birthday, April 21, upon businesses that display great enterprise across the fields of innovation, international trade, promoting opportunity through social mobility and sustainable development.

The awards are open to nominations and selected based on the recommendation of Downing Street and published in the official London Gazette.

All entries are subject to auditing and scrutiny by over 30 UK government agencies before being included in the roll of honour.

Y International (UK) Limited, Birmingham, listed in the Gazette as an international distributor of grocery products, perishables products and non-foods products, was chosen in the international trade category.

The recipients of the 2017 awards will be invited to a special reception at Buckingham Palace later this year.

The $6.9-billion Lulu Group, ranked as a top retailer in the MENA region and listed among the top 50 fastest growing retailers in the world by Deloitte, has made UK headlines in recent years for acquiring the iconic Scotland Yard building in London and for its investment in luxury retail brand East India Company.