Member Profile

Chamber Insight

Focus on a member

Name: Ayesha Rees Company: UVA UK Job Title: CEO

What does your company do?

UVA UK are an e-hailing company. We are creating a new approach that doesn’t just look after itself, but does the right thing by everyone it touches. A company with such a strong ethical stance it immediately stands head and shoulders above the rest –reassuring every potential user, driver and investor

How did it all start?

Having traveled the world for both business and pleasure, our founder Ibrahim Aldaajani understands only too well how ride-hailing companies are a disappointment for both driver and passenger.

A faceless interaction with the registration number of a car that may or may not arrive, most ehailing services are universally viewed with distrust or at worst seen as a necessary evil.

What’s your greatest achievement so far?

We have survived a pandemic! UVA UK has taken the opportunity to use this time to look at and then relook at our model, so we know we are delivering a service that will really make a difference.

What is the biggest risk you’ve ever taken – and did it work out?

To date we have taken calculated risks, to adapt our business model … more than once, to invest in good causes that really need support, at a time when we weren’t generating any revenue.

What keeps you awake at night?

Ensuring that UVA UK delivers on everything we say we will, we are a tech driven, people centric business so there are lots of moveable parts! And of course, hoping that there will be no more lockdowns I would have done a real deep dive into the sector at the very start of this journey… pardon the pun! PHV is completely different to any other sector I have ever worked in, we really have ‘learnt on the job’.

What has surprised you most in your job?

That when you are a start up you worry about everything! Then again as our Chairman says, “if business were easy, everyone would do it”

What advice would you give to someone starting out?

Ask for help and surround yourself with people who challenge you to raise you up! You will meet plenty of people who think they make their candle shine brighter by blowing yours out…gently remove these people from your circle.

Which business do you most admire?

Any business who has taken an idea, believed in that idea and made it a success, this could be someone like Brew Dog who were famously rejected by dragons den or a small independent passion project such as Stacey’s Shabby Shack in Fargo Village

What exciting projects is your business working on?

I can’t reveal all my secrets yet… watch this space.

What made you join Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce and how are you making use of your membership?

I really wanted to engage with like-minded people in the business community, the flexibility that the Chamber offers has meant that the team as a whole have benefitted the Chamber offer, making it an invaluable part of our business.