Enam Ali

Early life

Ali was born in Sylhet Division, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). In 1974, he came to the United Kingdom to study law as his parents wanted him to become a lawyer; however, he instead completed a degree in Hospitality and Management. In Bournemouth he worked two days a week for an American food company while completing his studies. Later, he worked part-time for the Taj Mahal group of restaurants. In 1980, he earned an International Fellowship from the Institute of Hospitality, and in 1990, a fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts.

Career

In 1998, Ali launched Spice Business Magazine, a quarterly trade magazine featuring articles in English and Bengali with information on the restaurant sector and community news which soon maintained an average quarterly readership of over 100,000.

In 2005, Ali founded The British Curry Awards to recognise excellence and with the intention of generating headlines and features for the best British curry restaurants, overall and in local categories throughout Britain.

In 2012, the restaurant he founded Le Raj was selected as one of the official food suppliers of the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games. It supplied Bangladeshi halal curry and iftar during Ramadan for 17 days during the Olympics.

In 2013, Ali became Chief Strategy Advisor to the hospitality-sector led charity Terraque Ltd who were already committed to the United Nations Millennium@EDU initiative, which funds deliver of computers to 15 million students by 2015 in the poorest countries, cooperating with Intel and Microsoft to purchase and deliver these at, or close to, cost price.

Ali is a director and president of the British-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce, which was created in 1991. Other countries' bestselling newspapers have used Ali as a contributor and consultee in writing about the increase in domestic curry consumption, best cuisine and global trends.

Awards and recognition

In 2009, Ali was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours for his services to the Indian and Bangladeshi restaurant industry.

In 2008, he was a member of the Home Office Hospitality sector advisory panel to ensure fairness in the treatment of the restaurant industry by that department and by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

In 2011, Ali became the first Muslim and the first representative of the British curry industry to be granted Freedom of the City of London, in recognition of his contribution to the hospitality industry. In the same year, he was awarded Best Business Personality of the Year by his local area of Epsom and Ewell at their Business Excellence Awards, in recognition of the contribution he has made to the local community by hosting charitable events, raising over £1.02 million in the previous 26 years.

In January 2013, Ali was nominated for the Arts and Culture Awareness award at the British Muslim Awards. In 2014, he was named NRB Person of the year by Millennium Global Magazine.