Syed Ahmed
Encyclopedia
Syed Ahmed is a British-Bangladeshi
entrepreneur
, businessman
and television personality
. He is the founder and CEO of the hand and body drier company SA Vortex. He is best known for his 2006 appearance in the second UK series of the BBC
reality television
show The Apprentice
, in which contestants compete for a £100,000-a-year job working for British business magnate Sir Alan Sugar. He was renowned for kicking up quite a stink in the boardroom and for finishing statements with the phrase "as I say."
. When he was nine months old, he moved with his parents to England
and was brought up in the East End of London
in a devout Muslim family. His father worked as a tailor
, and his mother a housewife
, raising Ahmed and his five sisters at home. He attended the Sir John Cass Redcoat School
in Stepney
from the age of 11 to 17 achieving 7 GCSEs. He then attended the Hammersmith College
, where he achieved a BTEC
in Business
and Finance
. He worked as a waiter and managed restaurants, including the Titanic, part of the White Starline Group, owned by Marco Pierre White
. He was in the Air Training Corps
and dreamed of becoming an RAF
pilot
but decided to go into business instead.
Ahmed is currently the CEO of SA Vortex, which specialises in high-speed hand dryers and body dryers. Ahmed's development of SA Vortex was shown in an hour-long documentary, Hot Air, broadcast on Sky
. Ahmed initially financed the business himself. Ahmed was a director of the IT
recruitment consultancy firm IT People (claimed to have a turnover of £
1.6 million
) until May 2006, and a director of Magenta Partnerships Limited from June 2006 until February 2007. He is currently a director of Get Launched Limited.
Ahmed has made speeches to the young enterprise community, and the more general enterprise community in Britain.
, a British reality television show hosted by Lord Alan Sugar
. The series was broadcast from February to May 2006. On the show Ahmed was a member of the "Invicta
" team.
For the first week the task was to sell fruit and vegetables, Syed was one of the three brought back into the boardroom. Ahmed was chosen as project manager
for Invicta in week 3, and led the team to win. He was brought into the boardroom again in week 4 for ordering too many chicken
s, but was lucky enough to be given a chance. In week 8, Ahmed was chosen again as project manager for Invicta, but was part of the losing team, however not fired, for having impressed Sir Alan with his selling
talent, and brought into the boardroom again in the next week again surviving. For the week 10 task, Ahmed organised an above-deck fun day on a cruise ship
. The teams were told they would not be judged solely on sales, but also on other criteria including marketing
, originality
and customer satisfaction
. At the end of the task, Invicta had made £191.50 and the opposing team, Velocity, had made £507. Ahmed was subsequently fired for not performing very well in the task, mainly for the handling of raffle tickets, where customers had to write their names down behind the tickets which caused confusions between the team, Sir Alan explained "Syed, despite some flashes of genius, you're too much of a risk for me", as he was fired. It is notable that during his 'Walk of Shame' sequence, a different and soft background music was played, which was due to the fact that he was a very notable candidate throughout the series.
On the show, he was the least successful project manager of Series 2, with a 1-2 record.
One of his quotes on the show was a, £100,000 salary is not enough but it's a good place to start."
He appeared on Sky News
as a paper reviewer – reviewing current and forthcoming newspapers in a celebrity panel. He also has appeared on interviews, at BBC Breakfast
with candidate Jo Cameron on the BBC
, and also at GMTV
on ITV
, where he has said he is "trying to protect" Dewberry from the media. He appeared on Sky One
's program called The Match, where 80 celebrities take part to win a place in a celebrity football squad. However, he was not picked for the team after the trials, due to disappointing performance, as he explained: "I ran out of steam." Ahmed again appeared on another Sky One
show, called Cirque de Celebrité
(from October 2006), featuring celebrity circus acts, and he was voted off in the second week. He subsequently returned as a guest judge.
In July 2006, Ahmed pleaded guilty to driving under the influence
and failing to provide a specimen at Thames Magistrates' Court
. Ahmed was banned from driving for three years, fined £500 and was given a two month suspended jail sentence
. Ahmed has been accused of drunk driving on four occasions. According to the Daily Mail, Ahmed described the incident as "unfortunate" and added "I don't drink at all now."
On 14 August 2006, the Police questioned Syed, in connection with complaint made against one of his former business partners, Afted Ahmed (no relation). He was arrested for procedural reasons, after voluntarily reporting to the police station, with regard to money-laundering legislation and was subsequently questioned regarding a £400,000 property loan from former Portsmouth Football Club director, Terry Brady. Brady had complained that Ahmed's business partner, Afted Ahmed, had misled him regarding the loan. Aftab Ahmed allegedly used the money to buy a home in New Providence Wharf in London Docklands. Syed Ahmed was released on bail until 20 October 2006. Ahmed's solicitor Mr Ewing said, "this should never have been dealt with as a criminal matter. It is simply a straightforward dispute." The only involvement Ahmed had, was to transfer the money to Aftab Ahmed's wife, while he was on holiday. Ahmed was not charged and was released without further questioning.
At the end of the year 2006, Ahmed was voted third as one of the "Arena
Anti-Icon" of the year, which also included Pete Doherty
, Russell Brand
, Gordon Ramsay
and others. A Sky One documentary (from June 2007) called, Syed Ahmed - Hot Air?, featured Ahmed attempting to launch a new company which specialises in body dryers, with £20,000 of his own money, to develop in three months. The program followed the launch of the SA Vortex's body dryer products, owned by Ahmed.
Ahmed was a host at the Spice times
Restaurant Awards in Essex Romford in December 2010.
s, who attended the Geared for Giving campaign to help promote the Workplace Giving, on May 2009. Ahmed also took part in a charity relay to raise money for children in Gaza
. Gaza100, was held on 24 May 2009 in Mile End Park
, east London, attracting over 1,500 people, which included also Apprentice candidates, Ghazal Asif and Tre Azam.
British Bangladeshi
A British Bangladeshi is a person of Bangladeshi origin who resides in the United Kingdom having emigrated to the UK and attained citizenship through naturalisation or whose parents did so; they are also known as British Bengalis...
entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
, businessman
Businessperson
A businessperson is someone involved in a particular undertaking of activities for the purpose of generating revenue from a combination of human, financial, or physical capital. An entrepreneur is an example of a business person...
and television personality
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
. He is the founder and CEO of the hand and body drier company SA Vortex. He is best known for his 2006 appearance in the second UK series of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
show The Apprentice
The Apprentice (UK)
The Apprentice is a British reality television series in which a group of aspiring young businessmen and women compete for the chance to win a £100,000-a-year job as an apprentice to the British business magnate Lord Sugar in series one to six...
, in which contestants compete for a £100,000-a-year job working for British business magnate Sir Alan Sugar. He was renowned for kicking up quite a stink in the boardroom and for finishing statements with the phrase "as I say."
Background
Ahmed was born in BangladeshBangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
. When he was nine months old, he moved with his parents to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and was brought up in the East End of London
East End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
in a devout Muslim family. His father worked as a tailor
Tailor
A tailor is a person who makes, repairs, or alters clothing professionally, especially suits and men's clothing.Although the term dates to the thirteenth century, tailor took on its modern sense in the late eighteenth century, and now refers to makers of men's and women's suits, coats, trousers,...
, and his mother a housewife
Housewife
Housewife is a term used to describe a married woman with household responsibilities who is not employed outside the home. Merriam Webster describes a housewife as a married woman who is in charge of her household...
, raising Ahmed and his five sisters at home. He attended the Sir John Cass Redcoat School
Sir John Cass Redcoat School
Sir John Cass Redcoat School is a Church of England School in Stepney, in the East End of London. The last Ofsted report in 2008 classed it as outstanding.-Catchment:...
in Stepney
Stepney
Stepney is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in London's East End that grew out of a medieval village around St Dunstan's church and the 15th century ribbon development of Mile End Road...
from the age of 11 to 17 achieving 7 GCSEs. He then attended the Hammersmith College
Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College
Ealing, Hammersmith & West London College is a college of further education based across four campuses located in Acton, Ealing, Hammersmith and Southall districts of London, England. The college provides education for over 25,000 students, and it is a member of the 157 Group of high performing...
, where he achieved a BTEC
Business And Technology Education Council (BTEC)
The Business and Technology Education Council is the British body which awards vocational qualifications. Such qualifications are commonly referred to as "BTECs"....
in Business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
and Finance
Finance
"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...
. He worked as a waiter and managed restaurants, including the Titanic, part of the White Starline Group, owned by Marco Pierre White
Marco Pierre White
Marco Pierre White is a British celebrity chef, restaurateur and television personality. He is noted for his contributions to contemporary international cuisine, and his exceptional culinary skills....
. He was in the Air Training Corps
Air Training Corps
The Air Training Corps , commonly known as the Air Cadets, is a cadet organisation based in the United Kingdom. It is a voluntary youth group which is part of the Air Cadet Organisation and the Royal Air Force . It is supported by the Ministry of Defence, with a regular RAF Officer, currently Air...
and dreamed of becoming an RAF
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
pilot
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
but decided to go into business instead.
Ahmed is currently the CEO of SA Vortex, which specialises in high-speed hand dryers and body dryers. Ahmed's development of SA Vortex was shown in an hour-long documentary, Hot Air, broadcast on Sky
Sky Digital (UK & Ireland)
Sky is the brand name for British Sky Broadcasting's digital satellite television and radio service, transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at 28.2° east and Eutelsat's Eurobird 1 satellite at 28.5°E. The service was originally launched as Sky Digital, distinguishing it from the original...
. Ahmed initially financed the business himself. Ahmed was a director of the IT
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
recruitment consultancy firm IT People (claimed to have a turnover of £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
1.6 million
Million
One million or one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. The word is derived from the early Italian millione , from mille, "thousand", plus the augmentative suffix -one.In scientific notation, it is written as or just 106...
) until May 2006, and a director of Magenta Partnerships Limited from June 2006 until February 2007. He is currently a director of Get Launched Limited.
Ahmed has made speeches to the young enterprise community, and the more general enterprise community in Britain.
The Apprentice
Ahmed appeared as a candidate in series two of The ApprenticeThe Apprentice (UK)
The Apprentice is a British reality television series in which a group of aspiring young businessmen and women compete for the chance to win a £100,000-a-year job as an apprentice to the British business magnate Lord Sugar in series one to six...
, a British reality television show hosted by Lord Alan Sugar
Alan Sugar
Alan Michael Sugar, Baron Sugar is a British entrepreneur, media personality and political advisor. From humble origins in the East End of London, Sugar now has an estimated fortune of £770m , and was ranked 89th in the Sunday Times Rich List 2011...
. The series was broadcast from February to May 2006. On the show Ahmed was a member of the "Invicta
Invicta
Invicta may refer to:*Invicta , a British make of car*Invicta , an Italian outdoor equipment manufacturer*Invicta , an early steam locomotive*Invicta , motto of the county of Kent, England...
" team.
For the first week the task was to sell fruit and vegetables, Syed was one of the three brought back into the boardroom. Ahmed was chosen as project manager
Project manager
A project manager is a professional in the field of project management. Project managers can have the responsibility of the planning, execution, and closing of any project, typically relating to construction industry, architecture, computer networking, telecommunications or software...
for Invicta in week 3, and led the team to win. He was brought into the boardroom again in week 4 for ordering too many chicken
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
s, but was lucky enough to be given a chance. In week 8, Ahmed was chosen again as project manager for Invicta, but was part of the losing team, however not fired, for having impressed Sir Alan with his selling
Selling
Selling is offering to exchange something of value for something else. The something of value being offered may be tangible or intangible. The something else, usually money, is most often seen by the seller as being of equal or greater value than that being offered for sale.Another person or...
talent, and brought into the boardroom again in the next week again surviving. For the week 10 task, Ahmed organised an above-deck fun day on a cruise ship
Cruise ship
A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...
. The teams were told they would not be judged solely on sales, but also on other criteria including marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
, originality
Originality
Originality is the aspect of created or invented works by as being new or novel, and thus can be distinguished from reproductions, clones, forgeries, or derivative works....
and customer satisfaction
Customer satisfaction
Customer satisfaction, a term frequently used in marketing, is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation...
. At the end of the task, Invicta had made £191.50 and the opposing team, Velocity, had made £507. Ahmed was subsequently fired for not performing very well in the task, mainly for the handling of raffle tickets, where customers had to write their names down behind the tickets which caused confusions between the team, Sir Alan explained "Syed, despite some flashes of genius, you're too much of a risk for me", as he was fired. It is notable that during his 'Walk of Shame' sequence, a different and soft background music was played, which was due to the fact that he was a very notable candidate throughout the series.
On the show, he was the least successful project manager of Series 2, with a 1-2 record.
One of his quotes on the show was a, £100,000 salary is not enough but it's a good place to start."
Post Apprentice
After the appearance on The Apprentice, Ahmed has received some media attention due to various newsworthy activities.He appeared on Sky News
Sky News
Sky News is a 24-hour British and international satellite television news broadcaster with an emphasis on UK and international news stories.The service places emphasis on rolling news, including the latest breaking news. Sky News also hosts localised versions of the channel in Australia and in New...
as a paper reviewer – reviewing current and forthcoming newspapers in a celebrity panel. He also has appeared on interviews, at BBC Breakfast
BBC Breakfast
BBC Breakfast is the morning television news programme simulcast on BBC One and the BBC News channel. It is presented live from BBC Television Centre in White City, West London, and contains a mixture of news, sport, weather, business and feature items...
with candidate Jo Cameron on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, and also at GMTV
GMTV
GMTV was the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 to 3 September 2010. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc. in November 2009. Shortly after, ITV plc announced the programme would end...
on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
, where he has said he is "trying to protect" Dewberry from the media. He appeared on Sky One
Sky One
Sky1 is the flagship BSkyB entertainment channel available in the United Kingdom and Ireland.The channel first launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, and is the fourth-oldest TV channel in the United Kingdom, behind BBC One , ITV and BBC Two...
's program called The Match, where 80 celebrities take part to win a place in a celebrity football squad. However, he was not picked for the team after the trials, due to disappointing performance, as he explained: "I ran out of steam." Ahmed again appeared on another Sky One
Sky One
Sky1 is the flagship BSkyB entertainment channel available in the United Kingdom and Ireland.The channel first launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, and is the fourth-oldest TV channel in the United Kingdom, behind BBC One , ITV and BBC Two...
show, called Cirque de Celebrité
Cirque de Celebrité
Cirque de Celebrité was a celebrity reality TV show broadcast on Sky One. The show features celebrities training for and then performing various circus acts. The winner of the 2006 series was Grace Adams-Short....
(from October 2006), featuring celebrity circus acts, and he was voted off in the second week. He subsequently returned as a guest judge.
In July 2006, Ahmed pleaded guilty to driving under the influence
Driving under the influence
Driving under the influence is the act of driving a motor vehicle with blood levels of alcohol in excess of a legal limit...
and failing to provide a specimen at Thames Magistrates' Court
Magistrates' Court
A magistrates' court or court of petty sessions, formerly known as a police court, is the lowest level of court in England and Wales and many other common law jurisdictions...
. Ahmed was banned from driving for three years, fined £500 and was given a two month suspended jail sentence
Suspended sentence
A suspended sentence is a legal term for a judge's delaying of a defendant's serving of a sentence after they have been found guilty, in order to allow the defendant to perform a period of probation...
. Ahmed has been accused of drunk driving on four occasions. According to the Daily Mail, Ahmed described the incident as "unfortunate" and added "I don't drink at all now."
On 14 August 2006, the Police questioned Syed, in connection with complaint made against one of his former business partners, Afted Ahmed (no relation). He was arrested for procedural reasons, after voluntarily reporting to the police station, with regard to money-laundering legislation and was subsequently questioned regarding a £400,000 property loan from former Portsmouth Football Club director, Terry Brady. Brady had complained that Ahmed's business partner, Afted Ahmed, had misled him regarding the loan. Aftab Ahmed allegedly used the money to buy a home in New Providence Wharf in London Docklands. Syed Ahmed was released on bail until 20 October 2006. Ahmed's solicitor Mr Ewing said, "this should never have been dealt with as a criminal matter. It is simply a straightforward dispute." The only involvement Ahmed had, was to transfer the money to Aftab Ahmed's wife, while he was on holiday. Ahmed was not charged and was released without further questioning.
At the end of the year 2006, Ahmed was voted third as one of the "Arena
Arena (magazine)
Arena was a British monthly men's magazine. The magazine was created in 1986 by Nick Logan, who had started The Face in 1980, to focus on trends in fashion and entertainment. British graphic designer Neville Brody, who had designed The Face, designed Arena's launch appearance.The magazine featured...
Anti-Icon" of the year, which also included Pete Doherty
Pete Doherty
Peter Doherty is an English musician, writer, actor, poet and artist. He is best known musically for being co-frontman of The Libertines, which he reformed with Carl Barât in 2010. His other musical project is indie band Babyshambles...
, Russell Brand
Russell Brand
Russell Edward Brand is an English comedian, actor, columnist, singer, author and radio/television presenter.Brand achieved mainstream fame in the UK in 2004 for his role as host of Big Brother spin-off, Big Brother's Big Mouth. His first major film role was in the 2007 film St Trinians...
, Gordon Ramsay
Gordon Ramsay
Gordon James Ramsay, OBE is a Scottish chef, television personality and restaurateur. He has been awarded 13 Michelin stars....
and others. A Sky One documentary (from June 2007) called, Syed Ahmed - Hot Air?, featured Ahmed attempting to launch a new company which specialises in body dryers, with £20,000 of his own money, to develop in three months. The program followed the launch of the SA Vortex's body dryer products, owned by Ahmed.
Ahmed was a host at the Spice times
Spice Times
Spice Times is a quarterly business to business magazine that is distributed to South Asian restaurants across the UK. The magazine published its first issue in 2006 with news and features that are pertinent to the restaurant trade.- Regular features :...
Restaurant Awards in Essex Romford in December 2010.
Charity work
In 2008, he organised and led a race in support of a breast cancer charity. He also sends money to families and charities located in Bangladesh. Ahmed was one of the four contestants with Secret MillionaireSecret Millionaire
The Secret Millionaire is a reality television show which originated in the UK, in which millionaires go incognito into impoverished communities and agree to give away tens of thousands of pounds . Members of the community are told the cameras are present to film a documentary...
s, who attended the Geared for Giving campaign to help promote the Workplace Giving, on May 2009. Ahmed also took part in a charity relay to raise money for children in Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
. Gaza100, was held on 24 May 2009 in Mile End Park
Mile End Park
Mile End Park is a park located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a linear park of some , and was created on industrial land devastated by World War II bombing...
, east London, attracting over 1,500 people, which included also Apprentice candidates, Ghazal Asif and Tre Azam.