AS the Tory Party’s deputy treasurer and one of its biggest donors, grocery tycoon Rami Ranger cuts a prominent figure across a wide swathe of British life. Currently it’s the field of politics rather than business that occupies the lion’s share of the Sun Mark chairman’s public profile.
With the day-to-day running of his company now in the hands of his son-in-law Harmeet (Sunny) Singh Ahuja, Ranger, who turned 72 in July, has been able to devote an increasing amount of focus to Tory Party affairs, of which the greater participation of British Asians in the upper echelons of politics and the issue of Brexit have been particular preoccupations.
Having helped set up the British-Asian Conservative Link organisation to encourage more Asians to get involved in UK politics, this former Dixons store manager has this year had the satisfaction of seeing the Tory Party make greater and greater strides towards inclusivity.
Even before the formation of Boris Johnson’s four strong BAME (Black, Asian Minority Ethnic) member cabinet in July 2019, Ranger had glowingly described the party as “totally changed” from how it was in the 1980s, with “a lot of Asian MPs, lots of Asian Lords, Asian cabinet ministers - “if you do nothing, you achieve nothing”.
Soon after the announcement of Johnson’s cabinet, including Sajid Javid as Chancellor and Priti Patel as Home Secretary, Ranger, said he was thrilled that a British cabinet “for the first time reflects the makeup of modern Britain”.
Whether the Party’s increasing identification with the UK’s Asian community would be enough to secure Ranger’s continuing wholehearted support if it takes Britain out of Europe without a deal remains to be seen.
In recent years Ranger, whose £200m a year business has won the Queens Award for Enterprise and International Trade a record five consecutive times, has dug deep into his own pocket to become one of the Tory party’s biggest individual financial contributors, reputedly to the tune of around £1m.
However, given the events of the summer, including the ousting of Theresa May, the defeat of her Brexit deal and Boris Johnson’s seemingly hardline Brexit stance, questions have been raised over a number of donors’ future financial contributions to the party.
Ranger voted Remain in the Referendum, declared his support for Mrs May’s abortive deal and has spoken out repeatedly against a no deal. He was among a group of moderate Tory donors said to be reconsidering their financial relationship with the party if Britain tripped out of the EU without a deal.
He has described Brexit as “a mess created by politicians for no good reason” and a “self-inflicted wound”, and has accused Leavers of “showing no consideration to those 48 per cent who voted to Remain”.
Speaking earlier this year, he said: “Brexit without a deal will plunge the country into chaos and even a recession. Sadly, some politicians refuse to listen to the voices of concern coming from the CBI, Bank of England and the (former) Chancellor of the Exchequer (Philip Hammond). I hope good sense will prevail.”
Since those remarks were made, Ranger has seen his own choice for Tory leader, Sajid Javid - whose campaign he supported to the tune of £10,000 – replace Hammond as Chancellor and make financial contingency plans for a no deal.
And Javid has put his support behind the Johnson government’s hardline approach, believing that Britain is more likely to get a deal if it threatens to leave without one.
Whether he would continue to support his party as committedly as before in the event of a Tory-led no deal Brexit remains to be seen.
What is unlikely to change, however, is Ranger’s longstanding commitment to supporting charitable work and being a sort of unofficial ambassador for British trade and industry. There are aspects of his colourful life that led to him being made a Freeman of the City of London in 2015.
A year later, he was awarded a CBE for services to business and community cohesion. Previously he won the prestigious Institute of Directors’ Director of the Year award in both 2012 and 2013, while in 2014 he was named Man of the Year at the GG2 Leadership Awards. He is also co chairman of the Conservative Friends of India group,
Rami Singh Ranger was born in Gujranwala, India (now Pakistan) in 1947, two months after the assassination of his father, Shaheed Nanak Singh. One of nine siblings, eight of whom were brothers, the family moved to Patiala in the Indian state of Punjab after Partition and where he went to school and college. He came to the UK in 1971 and got a job as a store manager with electrical goods retailer Dixons.
He decided to take the risk of leaving his job, launching an export business after being asked by a large number of overseas customers for help in transporting their goods back to their home countries.
With just £2 capital and working from a shed, he began by shipping electrical appliances, but soon realised there was more money to be made by exporting British supermarket goods for which there was substantial untapped demand in developing and emerging markets.
Ranger approached a number of blue chip and big brand companies including Heinz, Unilever and Cadbury and secured formal agreements to distribute their products to parts of the world that these companies were reluctant or unable to penetrate directly.
Today, Sun Mark exports, distributes and markets grocery products to over 130 countries. These products include some of the world’s most famous brands from companies such as Nestlé, Mondelēz & Unilever. Sun Mark also produces a growing range of its own brands including Pure Heaven, Laser & Royalty which have become household names in a number of export markets. Its UK business includes supplying its own brands to wholesalers and retailers across the country.
