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Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award: Aly Esmail

Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (supported by CareTech and Sheikh Holdings): Aly Esmail, director of the SME Group

Having joined his parents in the family business around a decade ago, Aly Esmail has helped make the SME group one of the most successful in its sector.


The group runs a wide range of fast food restaurants, partnering with some of the top franchise names in the world. Under Esmail’s watch, SME has expanded beyond its traditional London base and has now branched out into hotels with Choice Hotels International and InterContinental Hotels.

The company has over 1,000 employees and the Esmail family are well known philanthropists, donating to a number of worthy charities.

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Stokes leads as England stun Australia in Boxing Day Test

England captain Ben Stokes shakes hands with Australia captain Steve Smith after winning the Fourth Test in the 2025/26 Ashes Series between Australia and England at Melbourne Cricket Ground on December 27, 2025 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

Stokes leads as England stun Australia in Boxing Day Test

IT WAS a relieved Ben Stokes bidding good riddance to more than a decade of pain for English cricket in Australia on Saturday (27) as his team rallied from the depths to complete a drought-breaking test win in Melbourne.

Under fire after losing the first three Ashes tests, and amid reports of players treating a mid-tour break in Noosa as a hard-drinking "stag do", there seemed little prospect of England turning things around at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

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