Live 24-Seven - Spotlight On Business
“Of course, none of the success at work is possible without the support of my wife Priya, my children, family and friends who all give me some balance in life.
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How would you describe your childhood? Some might imagine you were born into wealth? My parents were immigrants to the UK in the mid-1950s, my father worked in a foundry and my mother would make garments, Christmas crackers, anything she could to make money. As well as working in the foundry, my dad also bought a corner shop, but still kept his job in the factory. I used to work in the corner shop as a child, so my childhood was all about family and work ethic, looking back on it we were very working class, but actually because of the Sikh philosophy of respecting everybody else and not fearing anybody else, you feel quite rich in yourself. I grew up feeling very proud and whilst very working class, as far as I was concerned I came from a royal family, we were good people and that’s all that mattered.
I have many Sikh friends and I always think they are very similar to the Irish… Oh most definitely, a lot of my friends are Irish and I don’t think there’s anything particularly different about the Irish and Sikh communities. In fact when we were growing up, all of our white friends in the neighbourhood were always Irish, they’re all about family and all about religion and believe it or not the Sikhs and the Irish can drink, so that would bond the men and the women would all be about family. Kids were just kids; it didn’t matter if you were black, white, green or blue. Interestingly the work ethic is in the Irish too.
What do you consider responsible for REI’s runaway success? People like me don’t think we’re runaway successes, I accept we’ve made a lot of progress, but not a runaway success. We now employ over 300 people across all the companies I am associated with. It’s the hard work and dedication of our employees, along with the commitment and passion of a talented management team and co-directors, who, along with a loyal and supportive customer base, are the foundation of our success across all those businesses. I just have very simple ideas and logic! In particular, I’ve been lucky to have an outstanding FD alongside me in
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Marcus Daly, he has an excellent work ethic, loyalty and dedication to all that he embraces and I am also supported by four personal assistants, Anna Durnford, Lisa Worrall, Hayley Chambers and Katie Bolton, who are all loyal, hardworking and committed. Additionally, I am fortunate to work with some exceptional advisors in both London and the Midlands. All this support leaves me to focus on transactions and strategy, mentor and motivate staff and to think and plan ahead – sometimes for a few months, a year and in other respects we have to forward plan 10 years plus. Success for me is when I get to where I want to get to, just because we’re getting there a little quicker than everyone else doesn’t mean it’s a runaway success, it’s just a journey really.
Of course, none of the success at work is possible without the support of my wife Priya, my children, family and friends who all give me some balance in life. Within our business, we are proud of our successes and we celebrate them, however real satisfaction comes from knowing how we can do better in the future. It is a never-ending process of seeing how far we can go. There is no finishing line where we can say ‘we have arrived’. We never want to be content with our success, for that is when we will begin our decline.
You’re one of the most influential faces within the Midlands’ property scene, where did your passion for real estate stem from? I think I just like solid, tangible assets, I don’t like goodwill or fresh air or intellectual property rights – they can come and go. Something happens in the stock market and your entire world can disappear off screen in 30 seconds, whereas the buildings, they’re just there aren’t they and you can’t ‘make’ any more land!
The Midlands’ property market has been on somewhat of a roller coaster since the closure of Longbridge etc. back in 2005, but now it seems to be attracting huge investment and interest. When you make a prediction about the state of the property market across the area, people listen, so what are your current thoughts?
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