You certainly get a Buzz Lightyear feeling when you meet Ammar Mirza CBE, a serial entrepreneur and organisational growth expert with over 30 years of experience of helping people and places thrive. He greets me with enthusiasm and an infectious smile, a genuinely warm welcome that puts you at ease and makes you feel as though you have known him for ever.
I start by asking, “what do you do, Ammar?” His reply is that that is probably one of the most difficult questions for him to answer, that it would be easier to ask, “what don’t you do, Ammar?”
And looking at Ammar’s CV, you can see why he says this. From helping a generation in one of the most deprived areas in England – Walker, Newcastle – where he spent over 16 years as the Chair of Governors at Tyneview Primary School, to his position as Partnership Investment Specialist at Culture Bridge North East, to his weekly hour-long radio show on Spice FM, Ammar has become ubiquitous to life in the North East.
Indeed, in 2014, he was awarded a CBE for his services to business and the community in the North East. Overall, Ammar gives away next to 50% of his time to various voluntary and charitable causes and has arguably done more than any one else to help future generations realise their ambitions and raise their aspirations.
Asian Business Connexions (or ABC) is one of these. Ammar founded the social enterprise in 2009 to tackle inequalities, promote community cohesion and address the lack of access to existing business support programmes among the Asian community in the North East. Since then, ABC has grown to represent the entire Northern Powerhouse Region and is a lead member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for BAME Businesses.
“ABC has always sought to put inclusion and community at the top of the agenda,” Ammar tells me, “After the impact of COVID-19 on the North, and particularly on the Asian population both personally and professionally where we realised that ethnic communities were more impacted than others, this is more important than ever.”
Ammar is also Group Chair of the SME Centre of Excellence, through which he has supported over 12,000 companies through a range of world class Accelerator, Scale, Investor and Innovation programmes. An ever-growing network to start, bsurvive and thrive. Perfect experience for his position as the Chair of the Business Growth Board and SME representative at the North East Local
Enterprise Partnership, helping to lead the delivery of their strategic plans relating to business support, looking specifically at creating more and better jobs and creating the ideal environment for individuals and organisations to thrive.
“I feel incredibly privileged,” he says, “to have the opportunity to be one of the foremost ambassadors and advocates for the North East. I was born and brought up here and I’ve always been immensely passionate and proud to be a Geordie. I honestly think that the North East is the greatest region in the world. It’s an incredibly dynamic region with so much potential. I was recently in London at the House of Lords for the Northern Asian Power List 2022 launch event.
Whilst I truly love our region and there is no other place I would want to be, it hasn’t always been rosy. Growing up, I saw first-hand so many injustices and inequality across all communities, so it was an incredibly rewarding feeling to be celebrating the significant and sustained contributions of the Asian community to the North in such an historic setting.”
“What is your favourite thing that you’re involved with?” I asked him. “Last year, I was flattered to be asked to become the Honorary Colonel for the 101 Royal Artillery Reserves regiment. Not only was it the first time that a civilian was asked to take the position in a 300 year history, but also the first time that the position was offered to a person of ethnic heritage. Of course, I said yes,” he laughs. “It’s been a wonderful experience so far. I’ve always been a huge advocate of the armed forces – and would encourage everyone to sign the Armed Forces Covenant – so being able to represent the regiment and be part of one of the most special communities in the world has been incredibly special.”
When I asked what’s next for him after seeming conquering the entire region, Ammar smiled and replied in true Buzz Lightyear fashion, “A Space Station, of course!”.
The International Space Station at Airview Park is the first of its kind that will act as a launch pad for regional businesses wanting to setup globally, and as a soft landing for inward investment. The 10,200 sq. ft building will be a centre of excellence, aimed at helping regional SMEs to launch, scale and take advantage of the global trade and export opportunities offered through its neighbour, Newcastle International Airport. Not only will the ISS provide digitally enabled, shared-workspace and office facilities, but it will serve as a showcase of North East based companies to international business communities including, Turkey, India, the Netherlands, Pakistan and the Middle East, all of whom agreements and relationships have been established with.
“Innovation, internationalisation and digital transformation are the key growth enablers for businesses,” Ammar explains. “If we provide access to these and create overseas trade links for local businesses, we can help attract more inward investment opportunities, and ultimately, jobs for the area, showcasing the North East as the greatest region in the world!”
