BRITISH-ASIAN entrepreneur and philanthropist Rumi Verjee has spoken of the “great honour” of being asked to join the House of Lords as Downing Street released the names of 30 new peers this morning (1).
Verjee, a former investment banker and Cambridge law graduate, is best known for being the first businessman to become a Domino’s Pizza franchisee in the UK in the late 1980s.
Today, the 55-year-old runs Thomas Goode, the Mayfair housewares store which holds two royal warrants, and devotes most of his time to charitable activities.
He set up the Rumi Foundation, which – among others – supports the Clinton Foundation.
In a statement from Africa, where Verjee is accompanying former US president Bill Clinton, he said: “It is great honour to be asked to join the House of Lords. I look forward to working with my new colleagues and continuing to pursue the issues that have been important to me throughout my career; entrepreneurship, diversity, international development and helping young people – giving everyone an equal chance in life.”
In March this year, Verjee won the Asian Business Social Entrepreneur award at the Asian Business Awards, hosted by the Asian Media and Marketing Group, publishers of Eastern Eye and Garavi Gujarat.
Verjee has become a Liberal Democrats peer along with Zahida Manzoor CBE, a former legal services ombudsman and former deputy chair of the Commission for Racial Equality.
Other new peers include Doreen Lawrence, mother of the murdered black teenager Stephen, and a former GG2 Awards winner; Brian Paddick, former deputy assistant commissioner in the Metropolitan Police Service; and Sir Anthony Bamford DL, chairman and managing director of JCB.
When the new members take their places in the House of Lords in September, there will be nearly 800 active peers in the chamber.
