Ranjit Singh Boparan

Ranjit Singh Boparan (born 24 August 1966) is a British businessman, and the founder and owner of 2 Sisters Food Group with his wife Baljinder Kaur Boparan. Known as the "Chicken King" in the West Midlands,[2] he has an estimated personal fortune of £544 million.

Ranjit Singh Boparan
Born (1966-08-24) 24 August 1966
Bilston, West Midlands, England
NationalityBritish
Known forthe "Chicken King"
Net worth£544 million (2017)[1]
Titlefounder and owner of 2 Sisters Food Group
Spouse(s)Baljinder Kaur Boparan
ChildrenAntonio Singh Boparan

Early career

Born in August 1966[3] in Bilston, West Midlands, Boparan left school aged 16 with few qualifications.[2] He started working in a butchers shop, and founded 2 Sisters Food Group in 1993 with a small bank loan.[2] Still resident today in the West Midlands, he began expanding West Bromwich-based 2 Sisters Food Group through its holding company Boparan Holdings, which he jointly owns with his wife.

Boparan Holdings

Boparan Holdings is the group company, which owns all of the couple's subsidiary holdings. The Boparans are keen on training and developing their workforce, and are proud of their record of putting employees through NVQs on factory and farm production. They are also proud of the high standards of animal welfare and food safety among their partner companies and suppliers,[4] although an undercover investigation by ITV News and The Guardian in September 2017 found workers illegally changing the slaughter dates — and hence the use-by dates — at a 2 Sisters plant in West Bromwich.[5]

2 Sisters Food Group
Main article: 2 Sisters Food Group

2 Sisters Food Group is a Birmingham, England-based food-manufacturing company.

Established in 1993 by Ranjit Singh Boparan as a frozen retail cutting operation, it has grown rapidly through acquisition and expanded to cover 36 manufacturing sites in the UK, eight in the Netherlands, five in Ireland and one in Poland.

The group employs 23,000 people, and annual sales of £3.28 billion. It is listed 9th on the 2017 Sunday Times Top Track 100. It is the largest food company in the UK by turnover.

Northern Foods
Main article: Northern Foods

Following a period of asset disposal, on 17 November 2010 Northern Foods announced it was merging with Irish ready-made meals supplier, Greencore. According to industry web site, just-food.com, the company's shares rose more than 20% that day. The new company was to be called Essenta,[6] with headquarters in Ireland but listed on the London Stock Exchange.

However, after building up a 25% share holdings, on 21 January 2011 Boparan announced a £341M bid to buy Northern Foods,[7] which succeeded in gaining sufficient shareholder support to proceed. This resulted in the appointment of Boparan as the company's chairman in April 2011.[8] On 13 May 2011 the company was delisted from the London Stock Exchange, and taken private under Boparan Holdings.

FishWorks

FishWorks is a seafood restaurant chain, originally started by Mitch Tonks.[9]

Harry Ramsden's
Main article: Harry Ramsden's

In April 2006, Compass Group sold its specialist airports and railways division SSP for £1,822 million to EQT Partners of Sweden, including the Harry Ramsden's fish and chip shop chain. After attempting a turnaround under new MD Chris Sullivan in 2008,[10][11] on 19 January 2010 SSP sold Harry Ramsden's to Boparan Ventures Ltd, the private investment vehicle of Boparan.[12] BVL announced plans to open another 100 units in the next five years, and create 600 new jobs.[13]

Cinnamon Collection

In January 2016, Boparan Restaurant Holdings (BRH) acquired the three-strong Cinnamon Collection chain of restaurants in London, an upmarket Indian outlet.[14]

Grove Farm Turkey

In April 2016, the Boparan Private Office acquired Irish Turkey business Grove Farm.[15]

Giraffe Restaurants
Main article: Giraffe World Kitchen

In June 2016, the supermarket chain Tesco announced that it was to sell its 15-venue Giraffe Restaurants chain to Boparan Restaurants, for "an undisclosed sum", three years after it bought the chain for £50 million.[16]

Bernard Matthews
Main article: Bernard Matthews Ltd

In September 2016, it was announced Singh's Private Office (Boparan Private Office) was to acquire turkey producer Bernard Matthews for £87.5m.[17]

Ed's Easy Diner

In October 2016, Singh's Private Office added to its restaurant and dining portfolio with the acquisition of part of the 1950s-themed restaurant chain Ed's Easy Diner.[18]

Family and personal life

Ranjit Boparan received an honorary doctorate from Nottingham Trent University in July 2015, "in recognition of his significant contribution to the food manufacturing industry, to education and the development of his workforce, and for his philanthropic interests."[19]

In April 2008, Antonio Boparan was sentenced to 21 months in jail for dangerous driving, at Birmingham Crown Court. In February 2012, Cerys Edwards' family was awarded £5M, and a sum of £450k per annum every year for her life for Cerys' care, from Boparan's insurance company.[20] Cerys died at Birmingham Children's Hospital on 17 October 2015, aged 9.[21]He received a 12 months prison sentence[22] in March 2019.

References
  1. Goodley, Simon (28 September 2017). "The secretive 'chicken king': inside the empire of Ranjit Singh Boparan". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 September 2017 – via www.theguardian.com.
  2. Wachman, Richard (13 March 2011). "Ranjit Boparan, the chicken king, looks set to rule the roost at Northern Foods". The Guardian. London.
  3. "Ranjit Singh BOPARAN - Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)". Beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  4. "Birmingham Post Rich List, the top 50 wealthiest people in the Midlands". Birmingham Post. 23 January 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  5. Goodley, Simon (28 September 2017). "The chicken run: blood, sweat and deceit at a UK poultry plant". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  6. "In the spotlight - The Greencore, Northern Foods merger". just-food.com. 17 November 2010. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
  7. Boparan wins Northern Foods with £341m bid FT.com
  8. Ltd, Insider Media. "Boparan becomes Northern Foods chairman". insidermedia.com. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  9. Terry Durack (24 August 2008). "His FishWorks chain hit the rocks, but Mitch Tonks is back with a small-fry operation that's making a big splash". The Independent. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  10. "SSP – The Food Travel Experts". Foodtravelexperts.com. 4 April 2009. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  11. "Fantastic feast for the girls – Blackpool Today". Blackpoolgazette.co.uk. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  12. "SSP – The Food Travel Experts". Foodtravelexperts.com. 15 November 2007. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  13. "Chicken magnate gobbles up Harry Ramsden's with promises of 100 new outlets". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  14. http://imbibe.com/news-articles/general/cinnamon-collection-acquired-by-harry-ramsdens-owner/ /
  15. "2 Sisters' Ranjit Singh to buy Irish turkey business - Farmers Weekly". Fwi.co.uk. 20 April 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  16. Lauren Davidson (10 June 2016). "Tesco to offload Giraffe restaurants and its Turkish business as sell-off continues". The Telegraph. Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  17. Noli DinkovskiNoli Dinkovski, 21 September 2016 (21 September 2016). "Turkey giant Bernard Matthews purchased by Ranjit Boparan". Foodmanufacture.co.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  18. "JavaScript is disabled in your browser". Thecaterer.com. 12 October 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  19. Stones, Mike (20 July 2015). "2 Sisters boss gets award from university". Food Manufacture. London.
  20. "Cerys Edwards injured by speeding driver awarded £5m". BBC West Midlands. 23 February 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  21. "Cerys Edwards: Brain-damaged girl dies nine years after crash caused by multi-millionaire's son". The Telegraph.
  22. "Criminal who left a baby brain damaged becomes director of one of Britain's biggest food companies". independent.co.uk. 1 August 2017. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
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