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Network pulling out all the stops to help Asian firms
WHEN Arshad Chaudhry set up the Asian Business Development Network (ABDN) in 1997 he had one simple aim – to help expand small Asian enterprises.
Since then the group, which started off supporting a handful of businesses in West Yorkshire, has grown dramatically and now provides access to training and support services for 800 ethnic-minority businesses on a local and national scale.
Next month, the network will celebrate a milestone, its 10th Annual Business Dinner and Awards will be its biggest function so far.
Reflecting on the last decade, Mr Chaudhry, who runs Huque Chaudhry Associates in Roundhay Road, Harehills, Leeds, said ABDN had developed way beyond his modest aspirations.
"The reason I formed ABDN was because I felt the mainstream business support agencies like the Chamber of Commerce and Business Link weren't able to engage with ethnic minority businesses," he said.
"They didn't deal with things in the same way so I thought ABDN would be a medium between the two.
"There were a lot of corner shops and people from small Asian businesses who were doing well but we felt they could do better. We wanted to support and help them to grow."
As the small Asian enterprises have expanded, ABDN has found itself developing into a different kind of organisation, widening its net to help ethnic minority businesses across the board.
The organisation works closely with other agencies, including Asian Trade Links, Black Enterprise Network, Business Link, UKTI, Yorkshire Forward, and a number of high street banks.
Mr Chaudhry added: "I had pretty modest aspirations when we started but as businesses have evolved, mainstream support agencies have become more attuned to dealing with ethnic minority businesses. We have gone up a level and we now want to move on to become a network of influence.
"We now deal with more developed businesses by helping them to go up to the next stage."
One of key areas in which ABDN has helped to develop the Asian business sector is by focusing on women. The group works with colleges and local authorities to help Asian women break into business and achieve their full potential.
Other notable achievements include raising more than 100,000 for charitable causes as well as hosting annual trade missions to India and Pakistan.
By introducing Yorkshire enterprises to business opportunities abroad, the missions have resulted in more than 1m trade between the countries. Another trade mission to India is planned for this September.
Mr Chaudhry said: "It's a very diverse set of services we have been providing over the years. Now we are working towards being a network of influence. That is what our members say they gain the most from our events."
One of the ways in which ABDN is accelerating its influence is through private sector investment. Its sponsor partner for the next year is Jaguar, which will enable the network to devote more resources to its work.
For the first time, from April, the group will also have a full-time member of staff, thanks to funding from the Government's Local Enterprise Growth Initiative (LEGI). The person will be employed to develop business opportunities in inner-city areas undergoing regeneration.
Mr Chaudhry said: "We have a board of directors who all give their time voluntarily so it's going to be a big advantage to have a full-time person who can deliver this much-needed support."
On February 27, ABDN's hard work over the last decade will be celebrated when the 10th Annual Business Dinner and Awards takes place at the Royal Armouries in Leeds.
The event will be double the size of previous annual awards. "Running ABDN does take a lot of hard work and pain, particularly working with big projects like the dinner," said Mr Chaudhry. "But it's all worth it in the end and the event will be unmissable."
Case Study: Empire direct
One of the most successful members of the Asian Business Development Network (ABDN) is electrical goods company EmpireDirect.co.uk.
The company, which started selling fridges, washing-machines and vacuum-cleaners in Bradford in the early 1980s, has grown to its current annual turnover of 200m – a figure it hopes to double in the next three years.
The company became a member of ABDN when the network began, as a role model for other businesses.
The Leeds firm's online division is the power behind the company's growth, making it one of the biggest electrical retailers in the country, competing against the likes of Dixons and Currys.
Its rapid expansion has turned its four directors – Jaswant Toor, Amarjit Singh, Madan Showan and Manhor Showan – into local celebrities.
One of the unique selling points of its website is that customers can order online and collect from one of its 11 high street stores as well as using the home delivery service.
Mr Singh, sales director, said: "The web is our driving force for the growth of the business but we have an integrated approach – the web helps the stores and the stores help the web."
LCD flat panel televisions, games software and US fridge-freezers are some of the company's best-selling products. And while other retailers experienced a gloomy Christmas on the high street, Empire Direct sales grew by more than 30 per cent.
In 2008, the company has huge expansion plans. It is in the process of introducing new web stores in parts of the country.
Smaller than the large EmpireDirect stores, these outlets will enable customers to browse at the products online and buy them there
and then.
A new distribution hub for the North is also planned for West Yorkshire this year, creating 200 jobs. Another distribution centre will be located in the South.
The company, which employs a total of 400 people, has retail outlets in Leeds, Bradford and Wetherby.
Mr Singh said: "We joined ABDN when it first started because we think we have a responsibility to other smaller businesses in the region. It's good to be a role model and help other companies."
Mr Showan, Empire Direct group chairman, added: "We would like to congratulate ABDN on its 10th anniversary and wish them all the best for the future."
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