Choudrey appreciates the significance of this appointment, saying: "I cannot begin to express how honoured I am to have been included by the Queen in her New Years Honours List. It gives me great pleasure to be recognised for my contributions in this manner. These honours represent everything that makes Britain great reinforcing how it doesn't matter where you have come from, what matters is your work ethic and the impact you can make. It shows what matter is that you contribute and you help to make Britain even better, something many immigrants do on a daily basis across the nation."
Having graduated in Accountancy from the University of Kent in 1981, Choudrey joined Bestway in 1984 as Financial Controller, before being appointed to the role of Chief Executive for Bestway Group in 2004.
He has been responsible for transforming Bestway from a predominantly UK wholesale business with turnover of £1.1 billion and EBITDA of £47 million in 2004, into an organisation with diverse global interests that generate turnover of £3.4 billion, EBITDA of £340 million and employs 33,700 people globally (12,000 of which are in the UK). Under Choudrey's leadership, Bestway Group now consists of the UK's second largest independent wholesaler (Bestway Wholesale), the UK's third largest retail pharmacy (Well Pharmacy - formerly The Co-Operative Pharmacy), Pakistan's largest cement producer (Bestway Cement Limited) and Pakistan's second largest private bank (United Bank Limited).
He is a founding trustee of Bestway Foundation UK and the chairman of Bestway Foundation Pakistan. Only this year, Zameer announced that Bestway Foundation had teamed up with University of Oxford to create a £1.8 million endowment fund which will provide financial support to two deserving graduate students from Pakistan every year to study at Oxford.-PR