As a society, we are taught to collect expensive degrees to do well in life, but time and again we come across people who have built empires that rest totally on passion, and not education. When West Midlands-born Ranjit Singh Boparan dropped out of school at the age of 16, he did not have any qualification to boast about. Hard to imagine that one day he and his wife will amass fortunes worth £190 million and an empire of £1.65 billion.
Meet the Chicken King and the man behind the company, 2 Sisters Food Group. Ranjit started this venture in 1993 with a small bank loan. Residing in West Midlands, he began expanding his firm through its holding company Boparan Holdings, which he co-owns with his wife. Even though a business mogul of huge proportions, Boparan does not like to give media interviews and tries to keep a low profile.
2 States Food Group started off as a frozen retail cutting operation and has grown with time into 36 manufacturing sites in various countries like Netherland, Poland and Ireland. The group employs around 23,000 people and has clocked in annual sales of up to £3.4 billion in 2014. One of their biggest achievements was merging with Greencore, an Irish meals supplier company, which raised their shares by almost 20 percent. After growing into 25 percent share holdings of the company in 2011, Ranjit announced a £341 million-deal to buy Northern Foods, which made Ranjit as the company’s chairman in April 2011.
Boparan Holdings focuses on training and development of their manual labour and make sure they maintain a superior quality in animal welfare and food safety aspects of the business among their partners and suppliers.
In 2015, Ranjit was given a honorary doctorate by the Nottingham Trent University, “in recognition of his significant contribution to the food manufacturing industry, to education and the development of his workforce, and for his philanthropic interests.”
From being a school drop-out, to butcher’s assistant, to receiving a honorary doctorate degree, Ranjit goes on to prove that sometimes, being true to yourself and working hard towards your goals is all it takes to go on and achieve your destiny. Known for keeping his head down and letting his work do the talking for him, Ranjit has achieved all there is to do in his field. An inspiration to many, he rose from his roots to become the richest person in his field with his grit determination and strong work ethics.
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