THE UK’s FIRST Migrant Entrepreneur awards will be handed out at the fifth Migrant Business Show, which is being held at the end of the month. The awards are designed to celebrate the successes of migrant entrepreneurs, working alone or in partnership with established British businesses.
The Centre for Entrepreneurs estimated, as long ago as 2016, that 14% of UK businesses are owned by migrants – some one million owners, who employ around 4.5 million people. This year’s Business Show will see over 120 exhibitors from across the globe display their wares and talents. There will also be sessions where visitors can listen to range of expert speakers covering fields such as PR, finance, public speaking and branding.
The awards will recognise a range of different contributions made by the migrant entrepreneurs, with recognition going to the best start-up business, young entrepreneur, LGBT entrepreneur and charity/social enterprise enterpreneur, among others.
This Migrant Business Show is being hosted by High Profile Club (a Tech PR Platform, in partnership with MoneyGram International (NYSE:MGI) and the charity Migrant Voice. The event is the brainchild of Rafael dos Santos, himself a migrant entrepreneur, who began small but now has a property business with a turnover of £1.2 million and who wants to encourage others to grow their own businesses. “The Migrant Business Show is an opportunity to support growing businesses in the UK that not only financially benefit the country, but increase employment rates and increase the prosperity of the UK as a great nation,” he explained.
Guest of honour at the event will be Andrew Rosindell, MP for Romford. Rosindell is a member of the Conservative Party – a party which has a much longer record of supporting migrant business owners than supporting the many migrants who work for businesses. The website They Work for You points out that although he is generally a loyal member of this right wing party, he is not uniformly in support of equality – having often expressed opposition to same sex marriage and having voted for the UK to repeal the Human Rights Act 1998. Back in 2013 he voted against making it illegal to discriminate on grounds of caste and in 2009 he voted against private companies having to carry out equal pay audits. He has also campaigned to leave the EU.
Despite this track record, he has indicated that he will celebrate the role of migrants at the event and issued a statement welcoming the Business Show as “the perfect showcase for migrants to highlight everything that they bring to our community” – stopping short of seeing migrants as part of “our community”.
Nazek Ramadan, Director of Migrant Voice, said that his organisation is “delighted to be involved in acknowledging the talents, expertise and contributions of migrant entrepreneurs in the UK.”
The Business Show will be held on 27th April at the Amba Hotel in Marble Arch, with the awards due to be handed out at the Houses of Parliament.
•For more information about the Show or to obtain a free ticket, go to: https://www.migrantbusinessshow.com/
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