‘My humble congratulations to Amarjit on being awarded ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ title – Lord Karan Bilimoria CBE DL, President, Confederation of British Industry (CBI)
The boss of a British woodworking family business has been crowned, for the second time this year, Entrepreneur of the Year.
Amarjit Binji, Chief Executive Officer of AJB Group, beat off stiff competition to win this prestigious title at the Nachural Entrepreneurship Awards 2022. Winners across the 21 categories were announced at a gala black-tie event held in Leicester on Friday (May 13).
Showing their full support for Amarjit on the night, he was joined by members of his family, friends, colleagues and his two sons, Aaron and Jai, aged 10 and 12, respectively.
The Nachural Group host a series of awards across popular UK cities throughout each year.
In March 2022, Amarjit was proud recipient of the same title, Entrepreneur of the Year 2022’ at the Midlands Business Awards.
Visionary entrepreneur and proud dad-of-two Amarjit said:
“It’s an absolute honour to win this prestigious award. It is further proof, I feel, of effective teamwork. It so happens that I’m at the helm of this business but its success so far is down to our fantastic workforce who are an integral part of the AJB Group extended family.”
The candidates were evaluated based on their entrepreneurial leadership, talent management, financial performance, societal impact, degree of difficulty in navigating and overcoming obstacles to make their companies successful, and originality, among other core contributions and attributes.
Amarjit was one of three finalists in the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ category. He was selected by an independent panel of judges for his outstanding positive leadership coupled with a strong track record of commercial success and driving a positive agenda for best practice and change in his sector whilst demonstrating his commitment to the community through the firm’s charitable activities.
Lord Karan Bilimoria CBE DL, President of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), Chairman and Founder of Cobra Beer, said:
“The British economy continues to prosper even in these unprecedented times, thanks to the contributions of businesses across our great nation. It’s credit to business leaders like Amarjit who continue to persevere and pursue their dreams and ambitions where sky’s the limit.”
Amarjit’s career began at the age of 12. He started out as a carpenter and joiner. Frustrated with the lack of innovation and modern technique within his specialist field, he decided to set up his own company in 1999. AJB Group currently employs around 40 staff, including his brother Mandeep, sister Kully and best friend of over 35 years, Hitesh, who work as Operations Director, HR Director and Project Manager, respectively. Darren Moore, Factory Manager, is the longest-serving employee. He has been with the business for 23 years.
Helen Hewitt, Chief Executive of the British Woodworking Federation (BWF), said:
“Another great achievement for Amarjit from AJB Group and a well-deserved award too, congratulations. We are always proud to see business owners, leaders and employees of our members of the British Woodworking Federation receive recognition for their hard work, passion and dedication, and this is another example of how the woodworking and joinery sector are up there with other sectors as award winning businesses”.
Tom Pursglove, Member of Parliament for Corby & East Northamptonshire, said:
“A huge congratulations to Amarjit on his award, which is richly deserved. I was delighted to have visited AJB Group last month and to see first hand the ways in which the business has come on leaps and bounds in recent years. I have no doubt that the business will continue to drive on to even greater heights and I wish Amarjit and the team all the best – another huge Corby success story, of which we are rightly proud!”
Ninder Johal DL, Founder of The Nachural Group, had this to say:
“Well done Amarjit on his award. A deserved award for his remarkable leadership. A shining example of a role model entrepreneur who drives forward a business to even higher heights and along the way enriching others associated with the business. I feel humbled to be able to lead on the Nachural series of awards through which we strive to add even greater value to British business and, ultimately, our economy.”
AJB Group is a manufacturer of world-class joinery products manufacturing timber windows, external and interior solid joinery door and frames. Its customer base includes The Shard, BBC TV Centre, Centre point and Battersea Power Station, as well as famous celebrities. AJB Group continues to work in partnership on selected projects with Shadbolt & Sons, Braintree-based manufacturer of upmarket timber products, a family firm established in 1884 by Frederick Robert Shadbolt.
AJB Group uses timber from trees from across the globe and chooses to buy only from sustainable sources, those which are committed to tree planting. In addition, the company has installed a bio-mass boiler which means it uses no gas and 100% of its waste is recycled to heat the factory which mean zero waste to landfill.
AJB Group began in a 13,500 square feet factory in Leicester’s Oadby Industrial Estate. In 2015, the business relocated to a 40,000 square feet state-of-the-art factory in Corby, Northamptonshire.
Amarjit paid a glowing tribute to his late grandmother who, he said, had consistently reminded him of the foundations of the Sikh faith and core human values which are so common across all major religions. Among her many reminders were, ‘be humble and give back to those most in need’. Another, ‘treat how you wish to be treated and count all humans as equal’.
