Awards ceremonies are often seen as evenings of celebration, glamour and speeches. Yet for many within Britain’s South Asian community, they have come to represent something much larger: recognition.
For decades, British Asians have helped shape the UK’s business landscape, transformed its hospitality industry, excelled in academia, influenced politics, broken sporting barriers and enriched British arts and culture. Yet many of those achievements have not always received the same visibility as their mainstream counterparts.
It is this gap that the Asian Achievers Awards has sought to address for almost a quarter of a century.
The shortlist for the 24th edition of the awards has now been unveiled, once again bringing together figures from diverse professions whose stories reflect the changing face of British Asian success.
More than 500 nominations were submitted across nine categories, with judges spending the past month selecting this year’s finalists.
The shortlist reflects the breadth of talent across the British Asian community, featuring US PGA Championship winner Aaron Rai, Pakistan women’s international footballer Mariam Mahmood, King’s College London President Professor Shitij Kapur, model Neelam Gill, and restaurateurs Des Gunawardena, Karan Gokani, Subodh Joshi and Sujay Sohani. Community leaders, entrepreneurs and campaigners have also been recognised, including London Tigers Chief Executive Mesba Ahmed MBE and human rights academic Professor Sunita Toor.
Categories this year include Arts and Culture, Business Person of the Year, Community Service, Entrepreneur of the Year, Media, Professional of the Year, Sports Personality of the Year, Woman of the Year and the Lifetime Achievement Award, which will be announced on the night.
The judging panel brought together leaders from business, healthcare, media and entrepreneurship, including Hallmark Care Homes chairman Avnish Goyal CBE, Parkinson’s UK Chief Executive Caroline Rassell, Lyca Radio Chief Executive Raj Baddhan, Fairgrowth Group founder Rajesh Agrawal, journalist Rishini Weeraratne, and former B&M Retail chief executive Simon Arora.
Pratik Dattani, Managing Director of EPG, said this year’s awards attracted one of the strongest fields of nominations in the event’s history. He said judges had focused on leadership, impact and contribution to society, adding that the awards celebrate the resilience, innovation and achievements of the British Asian community during a period of economic and political
uncertainty.
The ceremony will once again be hosted by actor Nitin Ganatra OBE, while the entertainment programme includes musician.
Rishi Rich, who will perform alongside Pakistani classical singer Ustad Rafaqat Ali Khan. Comedian Tez Ilyas, known for BBC sitcom Man Like Mobeen, will also return to the event.
This year’s charity partner is Pardada Pardadi, an organisation working to improve educational opportunities, health and economic empowerment for girls and women in Uttar Pradesh, India.
Selected nominees
Arts and Culture
- Anjana Vasan
- Neelam Gill
- Nikita Pathakji
- Pravesh Kumar MBE
- Saurav Dutt
Community Service
- Dr Pam Gosal MBE
- Mesba Ahmed MBE
- Nazim Ali
- Sujan Katuwal MBE
Media
- Tommy Nagra
- Aaron Paul
- Balvinder Singh Sanghera
- Sarita Sabharwal
Sports
- Aaron Rai
- Dr Zafar Iqbal
- Mariam Mahmood
- Sanjeev Sharma
Business Person of the Year
- Abbas Esufally
- Des Gunawardena
- Kamal Pankhania
- Priyanjith Weerasooria
- Rajiv Batra
Entrepreneur of the Year
- Karan Gokani
- Nilofar Jaques
- Rhim Shah
- Roheel Ahmad
- Sanjeet Manek
- Subodh Joshi and Sujay Sohani
Professional of the Year
- Chaitanya Tatineni
- Fezaa Sheikh
- Manthi Wickramasooriya
- Professor Shitij Kapur
- Rushanka Amrutkar FRAS
Woman of the Year
- Dipna Anand
- Farzana Baduel
- Prity Somani
- Professor Sunita Toor
- Venya Wijegunerwardene
