Frank Khalid, proud entrepreneur and owner of the Elbrook Cash and Carry chain, the celebrity hotspot restaurant Chak 89 and the West London Film Studios is a self-made man. Said to be the ‘ultimate business role model for all British Asians’ by DesiBlitz, he is proving that there is more to the man than just the businesses he has built. With an impressive array of awards, and acknowledgement from some of the UK’s leading politicians, Frank Khalid and his business interests are said to be on the up in 2016.
Entrepreneur Frank Khalid
At the end of 2015, Frank Khalid won the Lifetime Achievement Award for Chak 89 at the Asian Curry Awards – A joint venture organised by the Asian Catering Federation and the Federation of Bangladeshi Caterers designed to recognise excellence in the Asian Catering industry. The evening was hosted by TV presenter and Strictly Come Dancing winner, Natasha Kaplinsky. Khalid was given the award for his ongoing work with charities that he holds close to his heart. Chak 89, and Khalid, were also proud to have had the Barclays Premiership Cup visit their establishment in the same month, which helped to raise around £30,000 for charity.
Frank Khalid said, “It’s a real honor to be where I am today. Amazing things are happening, and it’s down to the hard work and dedication over the years of building my businesses that I get to be a part of them. 2016 holds some very exciting prospects for business, and I am looking forward to seeing what we can get involved in this year. We are already putting ourselves forward for some big awards, which are always a great incentive to show our employees that they are the backbone of our success”.
At the tender age of 16, after helping out in his father’s shop and seeing how he could establish his own business, Frank Khalid opened his own wholesale unit in Stratford, East London in 1984. In 1985 he quickly expanded and took on a larger unit in Barking. In 1993, his business had expanded to such extent that he then purchased a 25,000sqft unit in Mitcham, which is still rated as one of the top cash and carry wholesalers in the UK with a turnover of over £100 million per year and is one of The Grocer’s Top 30 Wholesalers.
Frank Khalid then invested in a banqueting and conference facility adjacent to his Mitcham cash and carry, which is now a major player in the Asian wedding market and is frequented by some of the world’s favourite celebrities such as Lindsay Lohan, Mo Farrah, Danny Dyer and many more. In 2013, Frank’s most recent investment came in the form of the West London Film Studios in Hayes, Middlesex. With 6 studios and over 100 offices, it is amongst the top ten film studios in the UK. In 2014, the group’s turnover topped £145million, and employs over 85 people across all 3 businesses.
Khalid continues, “From opening my very first cash and carry to, most recently, having local MP Siobhan McDonagh and ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair hosting the local Labour party dinner at Chak 89, we have come such a long way. Being an Asian entrepreneur in the UK has been one of the greatest experiences I could ever wish for – and I would encourage every young, aspiring business owner out there to keep going. Never forget where you have come from, that’s what I would say”.
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