EP Insights & Action

The man
behind
the story
Surinder Arora is a name well known across the hospitality industry but arguably
few know much about the man. Beyond the industry, few will know much about
his business empire and yet his story is one that could well have come straight
out of a film script. He has built a successful billion pound business almost from
scratch which is impressive enough but what makes Surinder stand apart is that,
in a cynical age, he believes and stands for something beyond.
Surinder Arora’s story has almost
became folklore in recent years –
how he arrived in London when he
was just thirteen years old, unable
to speak a word of English. He was met at the
airport by a couple he thought were his aunt
and uncle. However, the truth was that they
were his parents. The couple that he believed
had been his mother and father had actually
been his aunt and uncle. His parents had
lost everything in the creation of the modern
Pakistan and in the turmoil, they had fled
for Britain. His parents were now settled in
London and wanted to bring him to Britain to
give him a better life.
“Life is a journey of waves, ups and downs.
Most believe that success is when one is at the
top of the curve but success is when you are
the bottom and striving to go back up. One
has to accept the good and bad of life as we all
experience it and it is how we handle what is
thrown at us,” reflected Surinder. “I recall the
tough days of 2009 and 2010 and we learnt so
much from that time. As my Mother used to
say “Don’t worry about the mistakes you make.
Just learn from them and make new ones”
Maybe Surinder’s ability to manage the
good and bad was a trait that he inherited from
his parents as their family had been respected
and well positioned in his homeland but
they had had to leave it all behind during the
repatriation between India and Pakistan and
start again. One can only imagine how difficult
14 | Insights & Action | October 2017