President’s Focus

Jason Wouhra, president of Asian Business Chamber of Commerce (ABCC), assesses whether businesses are seeing a light at the end of the Covid-19 health crisis tunnel.

We have all been through a very tough 12 months with the coronavirus pandemic.

Many of us have faced the irreplaceable loss of loved ones, family, and friends and due to that it has been the most distressing time for all of us.

I have personally lost family members, and both sold and bought a business in that time. Many businesses have fallen by the wayside. Many have struggled to keep their heads above the rising water.

I am an ex-director and shareholder of East End Foods Plc, and alongside my family, I had been in the business all my life until the sale of it in November 2019.

I bought back the very successful wholesale business which serves many Asian businesses in the West Midlands.

This now trades under our company Lioncroft Wholesale Limited, which is a business we aim to grow four-fold in the coming five years. Lioncroft Wholesale supplies 5,000 independent retail stores, restaurants, bars, clubs, and casinos in the West Midlands which has been a challenge.

As president of the ABCC, I am proud to say, we represent thousands of such businesses across many sectors, industries, and channels; small, medium, and large businesses; entrepreneurial, owner managed and familyowned businesses.

The Asian community represent four per cent of the UK and contributes nine per cent to the economy. Covid-19 has not just hit the Asian business community, but the nation and the world at large. Issues faced by us are collective as a society.

Now we are glad to see a gradual reopening of businesses and there seems to be a light at the end of this tunnel.

It is most important to support small and local businesses because they are reliant on the earnings they achieve, which is not quite like larger multinational businesses which are in existence only to deliver shareholder value and have a relatively short-term view.

Conversely, owner managed businesses are entrepreneurial and support families and local communities.

At the ABCC we have supported smaller businesses during the pandemic with translation services, explained government guidelines and raising knowledge of and assisting them in these guidelines.

We have created a helpline which they can call for advice and guidance for how to access government business assistance and support that is available to them.

We aim to continue in the same vein, helping businesses get though these unprecedented and tough times.

However, ever the optimist, it is important to look to the future, to ensure our local and independent business owners are equipped to weather this ongoing storm. I have personally always found it is important to have mentors who have achieved greater heights than oneself and learn best practices from them.

At the ABCC we aim to provide this service.

Our board members are highly knowledgeable across a range of industries, from food to accountancy, sports to legal services, and education to the creative industries. So, we have a full range of experience which we are happy to share through networking, our events, and our advisory communications.

We are holding many events on digital platforms in response to the new way of doing business. And we are here to serve the Asian business community as we as we have done for almost 34 years.

During my term as president, I aim to make this already strong organisation, the largest of its kind with a national footprint.

That would be fitting of the Asian community who have provided so much economic growth to the UK.

We all hope our friends, colleagues and community grow, thrive, and prosper as we come out of this dark period of history.

Jason Wouhra