Meet the Vigo Group MD who is celebrating 50 years in the property business and has no plans to retire

"I hadn’t been told that but it was a feeling I had that this was a permanent change,” he adds. “Most immigrants who come to England, even today, will say they’re only here for five years but there’s a very small percentage who actually leave.”

Shah’s father was a landowner who brought his family to Doncaster with the intention of creating a more prosperous life. He set up a business buying council houses that were earmarked for demolition and renting them out. The business grew into property development as councils began to give grants for people to improve their houses.

In 1973, fresh out of college, Shah, the eldest of eight children, joined the Vigo family firm and began buying and renovating houses.

"I always wanted to be a builder but my parents wanted me to be a doctor or a chemist or a dentist,” says Shah. “My mother used to make excuses to people and tell them I was doing a course. Construction and manual labour, certainly in Asian countries, is seen as the lowest job but building just fascinated me because you’re leaving a legacy.”

Shah immediately demonstrated a profound entrepreneurial spirit, keen to enhance communities and the lives of people.

During the eighties, he started building new homes and established a plant hire company for motorway construction. He went on to build and sell a chain of nursing homes.

Over the last 50 years, Vigo has tackled a diverse range of projects, from single homes to large industrial sites.

However, the two things that remain on his bucket list are a bridge and a tower.

"I’d like to build an office block or an apartment block,” he says.

He adds: "I am very lucky. I have worked hard and have built a business that I can be proud of, and that my children and grandchildren can be proud of, but more than that, I hope I've helped to change lives for the better.

"I love it when we are out and about with my grandchildren, and I can point out developments and say, 'Granddad built that; that is my legacy.'"

Shah describes himself as a ‘positive thinker’. “I always think nothing is going to go wrong, but that’s the mentality of an entrepreneur,” he says. “Have there been tough times? Yes. Have there been times when I’m waking up in the night, wondering if they’ll pay me? Yes. Have there been times when I’m thinking, will we get planning? Yes.

"That’s part of life but nothing has stopped me yet and I can categorically say nothing would. I’ve never taken on a project I haven’t finished and I’m always looking for the next project.”

Shah acknowledges the significant changes the industry has undergone since he joined in 1973, with evolving guidelines, regulations, and shifts in planning timelines.

"The industry today is totally different to the one I entered,” he says. “The biggest negative is the planning system itself but the majority of changes in the industry have been for the better. We build a fantastic product in England.”

Shah says the trend adopted by some developers in the nineties of creating large housing, office and industrial sites with few amenities nearby is reversing and the aim now is to create communities, which he loves.

"Developers disconnected people with big sites,” he adds. “The trend is going back towards creating communities.”

In 2011, Nadeem shared his vision for Doncaster to become a city, and last year that vision became a reality, bringing him immense joy. His son, Tariq, served on the board for the successful city status bid.

“Doncaster is home, it’s been a wonderful city to me,” says Shah. “I used to dream that one day I’d be able to say I came from Doncaster city. It didn’t physically change anything, or the people, but it changed the perceptions of people outside Doncaster.”

Nadeem received the lifetime achievement award from Doncaster Chamber in 2020 and last month, he his achievements were celebrated at a special event held at the House of Lords.

Throughout his 50-year career, Shah has also created significant change through his philanthropic efforts across the UK and around the world. As founder and chair of AHS Foundation, a charity which he set up in 2005 after a devastating earthquake in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, he has saved and improved many lives.

Within the UK, he was instrumental in the early development of a range of charities including the Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice, People United Against Crime, HM The King’s Mosaic and more.

“I personally believe that everything I earn isn’t mine, it has to be shared with people who are less fortunate,” he says.

By his side supporting him for the last 47 years has been his wife Maureen, who has played a pivotal role in the company looking after the finances and controlling budgets. Their three children, Tariq, Zara and Imran, also work in the family firm.

Shah, who also has four grandchildren and still lives in Doncaster, has no intention of retiring just yet, though. “I genuinely enjoy coming to work every day. I love to see the product built and there isn’t a better feeling,” he says. “When someone moves into your property and they’re all excited, it’s great to know you’ve been a part of their journey.

"If I’ve left people’s life a little better for being here then I’ve completed my purpose.”