Bestway Group
Bestway Group is a diversified multinational family-owned business with annualized turnover in excess of £4.5 billion. Starting off as a chain of retail convenience stores, the Group has grown to become a diversified multinational business with interests across the wholesale, pharmacy, real estate, cement and banking sectors. The Group is also the largest overseas investor in Pakistan. Owned by the Pervez, Choudrey and Sheikh families, Bestway Group was founded in 1976 by Sir Anwar Pervez OBE HPk, who remains Chairman. Serving over 12 million customers and employing over 28,000 individuals, the Group supports and serves communities through its operations across the UK, Pakistan and the Middle East.
The Bestway Group consists of:
Bestway Wholesale – UK’s largest independent wholesaler
Well Pharmacy – UK’s largest independent retail pharmacy chain
Real Estate – A UK investment property portfolio
Bestway Cement Limited – Pakistan’s largest cement manufacturer with the Region’s largest installed solar power capacity
United Bank Limited – Pakistan’s 3rd largest bank
UBL Insurers Limited
Bestway Foundation – A charitable foundation
Bestway Consultancy Services (Private) Limited
Bestway Packaging Limited
Bestway Renewable Technologies Limited
MAP Rice Mills (Private) Limited
The Bestway story began in 1956 when Sir Anwar Pervez, OBE H.Pk, arrived in the UK to further his education and to seek pastures new. He made his abode in Bradford and tried his hand at various jobs. He worked very diligently in whatever assignments he had opted for. An ambitious spirit in search of perfection, he was conscious of his wide vision and fertile imagination that needed a larger canvas for his socio-economic endeavours. He could not do justice to his talents by working for others and was in constant pursuit of creating his own realm in the business world.
Devotion, long and tireless hours of work enabled him to accumulate enough initial capital to launch his own modest business. In 1963 he established his first convenience store “Kashmir” in London’s Earls Court. Among many of his firsts and in keeping with the demand of the Muslim community in particular, he pioneered the availability of halal meat and other halal food products. His visionary step brought instant recognition from a large number of Pakistani and other Muslim residents in and around West London.
Sir Anwar, however, was not the entrepreneur who would confine his ventures to a limited field. He was committed to fulfilling the requirements of all his customers regardless of their race, religion or economic background therefore he took the strategic decision to enter the mainstream retail market.
His enterprising approach in business management based on high-class service to consumers brought him rich dividends. Backed by a team of dedicated associates, his business prospered and expansion continued. By early seventies he had 10 well-stocked convenience stores in and around West London, popular among those consumers who sought hassle free service within the comfortable and manageable reach of their pockets.
Prosperity and profits were not his only priorities. A man of ideas that he is and disillusioned with the then prevailing system of trade, he opted to introduce an altogether novel concept in retail business to save it from the ever-increasing squeeze of the wholesalers who were charging a high margin of profit; of between 10% and 12%. He could visualise that the independent retailers had no chance of survival in the face of high margin policy of the wholesalers and the ever-growing network of big supermarket chains.
Sir Anwar and his team explored the possibility of entering the wholesale market themselves; in other words to take the bull by the horns. He initiated an innovative approach for challenging its hegemony over prices by introducing the concept of lower operating margin. It became evident that a 4% margin would still enable the business to operate profitably and at the same time, the independent retailers will be able to narrow the gap between the prices in the local community stores and the big supermarkets. His brave new strategy and unique trading style ultimately changed the face of the wholesale sector in the UK forever. This also helped in stemming the decline of local community stores in the 1970s and 1980s in the UK.
Non-availability of suitable sites and reluctance of the banks to fund his cash and carry venture posed as stumbling blocks. However, Sir Anwar and his founder directors were determined not to see their dream floundered due to non-availability of bank funding. They combined their individual resources to the extent of re-mortgaging their homes. While this satisfied the financial problem, they had to surmount the suppliers’ reluctance to offer usual credit terms. Their dauntless determination subsequently led to the growth of the business, which in turn led to the rise in credibility and reliability of the company. It opened closed doors to them and the usual standard trading terms were eventually offered. Ultimately the banks were also impressed with the company’s financial performance and were comfortable in offering banking facilities. Sir Anwar’s perseverance had finally borne fruits.
To know more about the Bestway Group, please visit www.bestwaygroup.co.uk
Bestway Cement Limited
In line with its diversification strategy, the Group identified the cement sector in Pakistan as an opportunity and subsequently set up the group’s first cement plant in Hattar, Pakistan with an annual production capacity of 1.1 million tonnes in 1995.
With an initial investment of US$120 million, civil works on the group’s first cement plant commenced in 1996 and the kiln was fired two years later. BCL Hattar was established in industry record breaking time of 24 months. This was a greenfield project and the plant was set up in an economically deprived area of Hattar, in the KP Province of Pakistan. Bestway’s investment led to the creation of over 800 direct jobs and the economic development of the area.
In February 2004 anticipating a period of resurgent demand in the domestic market, it was decided to expand BCL’s operations through setting up its second greenfield plant with an annual capacity of 1.8 million tonnes. The plant was set up in Chakwal in the Province of Punjab, Pakistan at a total investment of US$140 million in another record breaking period of 19 months. Bestway’s investment in one of the most underdeveloped areas of Central Punjab led to the creation of 900 jobs for the local community.
In September 2005 the Group acquired its third cement plant, Mustehkam Cement as part of the Government’s Privatisation Programme. This plant had remained non-operational since 1999 and recommenced commercial production within a period of three months post-acquisition. In the post acquisition period the Group has invested in excess of US$50 million. In 2009 plant capacity was enhanced to 1.1 million tonnes per annum. BCL’s investment in Mustehkam led to the creation of 800 new jobs which had a direct positive effect on the local economy.
In June 2008 Bestway set up its third greenfield plant, adjacent to the existing site in Chakwal, at a cost of US$180 million. This plant had an annual capacity of 1.8 million tonnes and created 500 jobs.
BCL saw an opportunity in the Afghanistan market and in 2003 began exporting cement there. BCL is the largest exporter of cement to Afghanistan and has been winning the national export awards since 2004. In 2007 BCL started exporting cement to India and in just over two years became the largest exporter to India. BCL also exports cement to South Africa, Sri Lanka and the Middle East.
Being an environmentally conscious company BCL established Pakistan’s first Waste Heat Recovery Power Plant (WHRPP) under Zameer’s guidance at a cost of US$29 million. The plant became operational in September 2009 and led to the creation of 35 jobs. The plant has the capacity to generate 15MW of power from previously wasted heat, thereby reducing the cost of production for the two Chakwal plants as well as their dependency on external source of electricity. The 60,000 carbon emission credits generated from the WHRPP are an additional source of income. The plant gained CDM (Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol) approval in August 2010.
Today, BCL has grown from a start up to Pakistan’s largest cement manufacturer with five modern state of the art production lines with annual capacity of approximately 10.8 million tonnes while providing employment to over 3,000 people.
To date Bestway Group is the only British company to invest in the Pakistani cement sector.