FISMM, FCIM, FIH,
Justice of the Peace
Freeman of the City of London
Ahmed us Samad Chowdhury
(Ahmed Chowdhury)
FISMM, FCIM, FIH
Justice of the Peace, Freeman of the City of London
About
Ahmed Samad Chowdhury, an entrepreneur, philanthropist and media personality who continues to devote much of his time to bridging the gap between communities.
Since arriving in Britain in 1972 from Bangladesh, Ahmed has been working tirelessly to raise the profile of the British-Bangladesh community and improve racial integration for the benefit of increasing prosperity and wellbeing.
As one of the first to introduce authentic Indian cuisine to the West, he played a key role in changing British dining habits and helping to popularise the British curry as a unique dish, now more popular in the UK than fish and chips. Following the success of his award-winning restaurants in Bath and Bristol, he has built a business empire encompassing newspapers, the leading Bangladeshi TV station-Channel S, property and knitwear.
Ahmed has been named as “The most influential media person” and is included prominently on the British-Bangladeshi Power and Inspiration 100 each year since its inception. He continues to also feature regularly in noteworthy publications such as British Bangladeshi Who's Who, 101 British Bangladeshis and Business America's 'Global Bangladeshi Business Icons'.
Background and achievements
Early Years
Born in the Sylhet region of Bangladesh, Ahmed came to Britain in 1972 to further his education. Within a year he was student vice-president of the City of Bath College of Further Education and within two years student president of the South Bristol College of Further Education.
After finishing college and gaining business management qualifications, he decided to launch his own business. With a loan of just £250, he set up the West Country’s first Indian take-away in Bristol in 1979 before opening the award-winning Rajpoot restaurant in Bath in 1980. Rajpoot was the lead restaurant that raised the standard of Indian cuisine in the UK. As well as winning numerous awards for fine dining, it was regularly named among the top ten Indian restaurants in the country. Since then, Ahmed went onto partner and open numerous other establishments that succeeded in their own right.
Their success was based on excellence - something he strives for in everything he does. Ahmed also encourages self-dependence and believes the best way to help people is to provide them with the means to help themselves – teaching them to fish for themselves. Providing growth and employment is a critical belief of Ahmed's.
Diversification
Since the mid-1990s, Ahmed has diversified into media enterprises, knitwear, and property development. In 1997 he launched the first colour broadsheet newspaper for the British-Bengali community, called Potrika. While he was advised that such a project would fail, he felt differently and took the risk. It is now a vibrant popular newspaper and has made a huge contribution in educating readers about the British way of life.
After a spell on the board of Bangla TV in the early 2000, he became the Chairman of the most viewed Bengali channel in the UK the Channel S which is watched by 69% of the British Bangladeshi community. He is a frequently called upon as a spokesperson to provide his vast knowledge and experience to a wide range of talks, programmes and events.
He takes great interest in running the station and ensures that it showcases the achievements and positive news about British Bangladeshis.
To further highlight the achievements and enormous contribution of British Asians to British way of life, among other successful programmes he introduced an annual awards event in a number of different areas including education, business, culture and community work. By televising these on Channel S, it has enabled the community to celebrate success and it has greatly raised the esteem and confidence of the Bangladeshi community in the UK.
Integration
While Ahmed had the drive, ambition and organisational skills to launch successful enterprises, he was aware that many Bangladeshis face great difficulties while arriving in Britain. To support them and help them become integrated, he set up several centres in the West Country to provide advice and skills training to help them learn English and gain useful skills for the workplace.
In 1988 he founded the Bangladesh Women’s Group for Bristol, Bath and the West Country to help women become more integrated into British society. In 1990 he set up Bangladesh House which is a centre to help the Bangladeshi community in the south-west of England become integrated into the British way of life and get advice on important issues. It also provides an integrated service with other agencies in the area. Ahmed personally funded part of this project and raised the remainder through Community donations and a mortgage secured on his own assets.
Ahmed still felt that more could be done to help young Bangladeshi men and women reach their full potential and get training for work. Once again with personal donations and securing a loan on his personal assets he founded the Bangladesh Centre in Bristol. The centre opened in 1993 and offers classes in English as a second language, training to help boost employment prospects, fitness classes and other activities.
Philanthropic activities
The Community
Ahmed has also put his talents to good use and have donated tens of thousands of pounds and raised millions for good causes including the children’s ward at the Royal United Hospital in Bath, Barnardos, Macmillan Cancer Relief, Action for Kids and local schools in Bath plus major relief and charitable projects in Bangladesh.
In addition, Ahmed founded a branch of an organisation called the Immigration Advisory Service in Sylhet Bangladesh to give people official guidance about immigration to the UK to stop ruthless criminals taking advantage of would-be immigrants.
One of his largest community projects in the UK was to build Shahjalal Jame Mosque, the first purpose built mosque in Bristol, in 1998. In 2020, he expanded his work on Shahjalal Jame Mosque and established the ‘Khadija Centre’ for Women, the first centre for women worshippers outside London.
The Shahjalal Jame Mosque which was established 2001, is now being renovated and expanded to modernize and expand capacity. Above is a render of the new look upon completion.
An International Stage
As well as his work in the community, he has also operated at an international level to build relationships between countries. To facilitate better international relations, in 1991 he was a founding director of the British-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and also chaired the British-Bangladesh Friendship Society for eight years.
An advisor to the government on ethnic minorities as part of the New Deal Task Force, he also played a leading role in raising standards as a member of the National Steering Committee of the Hospitality Training Foundation which worked on making National Vocational Qualifications and Scottish Vocational Qualifications more accessible to the Asian caterers and restaurant industry.
In Bangladesh Ahmed has been heavily involved in numerous philanthropic projects establishing Schools, Orphanages, hospitals, cyclone shelters and contributing to libraries. Examples include his critical role in Bangladesh Female Academy for Orphans, and more recently using his initiative to construct of the 6th Floor of Heart Foundation Hospital, Sylhet.
Continuity
In his role as a businessman, community leader and magistrate since 1991, he follows all matters of public interest very closely. Moreover he has extensive experience in a wide range of areas of interest including education, the economy, employment, international relations, culture, hospitality, criminal justice as well as a general interest in health and wellbeing.
With a high public profile, Ahmed has developed an impeccable reputation as a successful entrepreneur and a leader in the community helping to improve prospects for his fellow men and undertake numerous charitable projects and fund-raising campaigns.
Indeed, in recognition of his achievements and as proof of his standing in the community, he had many complimentary profiles written up about his achievements across print, electronic and social media including the Daily Mail, The Guardian, as well as many leading publications in Bangladesh.
Recent Involvements
Catering Circle
Chief Advisor
Catering Circle is a media platform for the catering industry to identify problems, discuss and address the issues, and formulate solutions through active participation of caterers and other key
stakeholders.
National Heart Foundation Hospital, Sylhet
National Heart Foundation Hospital, Sylhet is a 100 bedded super specialty cardiac hospital with a fully functional Emergency, CCU, PCCU, Diagnostic Lab, Cathlab, Hybrid Cardiac OT, Ward and Cabin capable of providing both Outpatient and Inpatient care. It will be expanded into a 200 bedded cardiac hospital in phases.
Channel S Television
Chairman
Channel S is a UK-based, free-to-air television channel targeting the British-Bangladeshi community. Channel S was the first Bangladeshi channel to broadcast content in the Sylheti dialect in the UK, and serves to represent and work for the British-Bangladeshi community.