Nationality British Occupation Entrepreneur | Spouse(s) Katy Ostro Name Maurice Ostro | |
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Born 16 February 1965 (age 59) ( 1965-02-16 ) Known for Business, charity and interfaith relations Education University of Oxford, Wadham College, Oxford | ||
Maurice Samuel Ostro, OBE, KFO (born 16 February 1965) is a British entrepreneur and philanthropist. His business interests have included gemstones, media distribution, property, frozen yogurt and airline catering. His principal philanthropic interests have included interfaith relations and conflict resolution.
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On The Queen's 2014 Birthday Honours list, Ostro was appointed an OBE. He has also been appointed a KFO (Knight of the Royal Order of Francis I).
Education
Ostro is an alumnus of the Gemological Institute of America, Harvard Business School and New York University. In 1987 he gained a Masters in Jurisprudence at Oxford University’s Wadham College and was then admitted to the New York Bar in 1988.
Business career
In 1992, Ostro founded the frozen yogurt company, Glasay International PLC. The company became the country's leading manufacturer of frozen yogurt and the largest supplier of frozen yogurt to the airline sector globally. Glasay was sold in 2001.
Media on the Move, founded by Ostro to supply media content to airlines, shipping companies and train lines, was sold to London Stock Exchange-listed Watermark PLC. Ostro remained as managing director of Media on the Move until 2007.
In 1999, Ostro founded Air Fayre, an airline catering company. Air Fayre was sold to Watermark PLC in 2004; Ostro remained as managing director until 2007.
In 2006, with Ostro already serving as managing director of two of its major divisions, Watermark appointed Ostro as its CEO.
In 2010, following the death of his father, he returned to run the eponymous family business; Ostro Minerals is the world's leading producer and distributor of blue topaz.
Charitable interests
Ostro is an active philanthropist. He founded the Fayre Share Foundation with a contribution of 10% of the shares of the company Air Fayre, becoming a trustee along with his wife Katy Ostro. The Fayre Share Foundation is a charitable foundation promoting philanthropy, collaboration, interfaith relations and conflict resolution.
In 2008, Ostro became a Vice Chair of the Council of Christians and Jews, the UK's oldest, national interfaith organisation. He was also the initiator and Organising Committee Chair for London Mayor Boris Johnson's Interfaith Conference in 2010, which culminated in the founding of the Faiths Forum for London, a London-wide interfaith initiative, where Ostro is Founding Patron.
Ostro is the owner and funds Collaboration House, an initiative to explore how best to encourage and enable charities that have significant common interests to share resources and experience to help increase the impact of their work. The 6,500 sq. ft building in Charlotte Street Fitzrovia currently houses the following charities: London Borough of Faiths Network, Faiths Forum of London, Faith Based Regeneration Network UK, The Coexist Foundation, The United Religions Initiative, International Centre for Integration and Cohesion, William Temple Foundation, The Council of Christians and Jews, Christian Muslim Forum, Women’s Interfaith Network, The International Debate Education Association UK, Aegis Trust, Islamic Society of Britain, All faiths & None, Nisa Nashim.
Governmental experience
Ostro has contributed his skills to a number of government initiatives: