Maurice Samuel Ostro

Ostro is an alumnus of the Gemological Institute of America, Harvard Business School and New York University. In 1987 he gained a Masters in Jurisprudence at Oxford University’s Wadham College and was then admitted to the New York Bar in 1988.[3]

Ostro started his career in the gemstone industry after becoming a graduate gemologist in the early 80s.

In 1992, Ostro founded the frozen yogurt company, Glasay International PLC. The company became the largest supplier of frozen yogurt to the airline sector. Ostro invented and patented a box for keeping items frozen without refrigeration that won multiple awards.[4][5] Glasay was sold in 2001.[6]

In 1999, Ostro founded Air Fayre, a logistics centric airline catering company, and patented its methodology internationally.[7][8][9][10] Air Fayre was sold to London Stock Exchange listed Watermark PLC in 2004.[11][12][13]

In 2002, Ostro founded Media on the Move, to supply media content to airlines, shipping companies and train lines.[14][15][16] It was sold to Watermark PLC in 2003. In 2006, with Ostro already serving as managing director of two of its major divisions, Watermark appointed him as its CEO.[17][18]

Upon his Father’s death in 2010, Ostro assumed responsibility for the UK operations of the eponymous family gemstone business, Ostro Minerals. It is the world's leading producer and distributor of blue topaz.[19][20] Ostro changed the company’s focus to achieving a positive societal impact. This includes the provision of the Ostro stone, the largest topaz of its kind, to the Natural History Museum's gemstone collection.[21][22]

Ostro is an active philanthropist.[23] He founded the Ostro Fayre Share Foundation with a contribution of 10% of the shares of the company Air Fayre.[24] The Ostro Fayre Share Foundation is a charitable foundation promoting philanthropy, collaboration, interfaith relations and entrepreneurship.[25]

In 2015, Ostro created eg (Entrepreneurial Giving), a global movement to create communities of early-stage entrepreneurs united in a common purpose to see business as a force for good.[26][27]

In 2008, Ostro became a Vice Chair of the Council of Christians and Jews.[28] He was also the initiator and Organising Committee Chair for London Mayor Boris Johnson's first Interfaith Conference in 2010. Ostro then instigated and funded the creation of the Faiths Forum for London.[29]

Ostro has championed collaboration between charities. In 2014, he funded and supported the co-location of multiple charities working in the same sector through ‘Collaboration House’, based in Charlotte Street Fitzrovia.[30]

Working with some of the charities from Collaboration House, the Ostro Fayre Share Foundation has been partnering with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) from 2016 in rolling out a nationwide initiative called Strengthening Faith Institutions (SFI), which has provided training to over 800 religious institutions in England.[31]

In early 2020, Ostro was invited to join the Steering Committee of the /together campaign, chaired by the Archbishop of Canterbury. He then established Faiths United, a coalition of over 35 faith leaders from the nine major faiths. There is also a parallel youth organisation, Faiths United Youth Network.[32][33]

In the wake of COVID-19 Ostro formed the Business Action Council (BAC), a coalition of 32 of the major business representative organisations in the UK.[34] With the consensus of its members, it has developed recommendations for Government policies to assist small businesses during the immediate response to COVID-19, and to support their recovery.[35][36]

Ostro has contributed his skills to a number of government initiatives:

• From 2014, Ostro serves on the Education Expert Group for the Prime Minister’s Commission on the Holocaust[37]
• From 2003–5, Ostro was part of Prime Minister Tony Blair's Strategy Unit on improving life chances of disabled people[38]
• From 2001–5 he served on the SME Board of the National Employment Panel of the Department of Work and Pensions[39]