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Pro Chancellor, Vice Chancellor, Lord Mayor, Lady Mayoress, honoured guests,
Aston graduates, ladies and gentlemen. Good afternoon.
What a wonderful ceremony.
First of all, I'd like to thank Professor Hart for his extremely generous introduction.
It's a great privilege to be invited to receive an honorary doctorate
at such a young age from this prestigious University. Having read some of the names
of Aston's previous doctorates, it's truly an honour
to be standing on the shoulders of giants from across the globe.
I appreciate that the university has recognized my contribution
and put me amongst a distinguished list of individuals
who are exceptional in their fields. Let me congratulate
all of you for graduating today from this diverse,
vibrant and fabulous city. I'd also like to extend my best wishes to your families
who no doubt have supported you, and I'm sure
are proud of your wonderful achievements. For me,
my support networks are my wife, parents, immediate family
and a close circle of friends. These are the people
that genuinely wish me to do well. Their support
enables me to stay determined and strive to achieve more.
Today is also a day to thank
and congratulate all tutors, professors and academic staff.
who have all devoted their time - energy -
to teach, challenge and help you grow as individuals.
This is no ordinary day.
It's a milestone, a rite of passage. You may have completed your degree at Aston University
but it also marks the beginning of the rest of your life.
Each of us are on a journey. As you know, a journey can be straightforward,
it may involve some diversions and you may get lost along the way.
Life after university sometimes works out as planned;
you may need to take a different route to achieve your aims and aspirations.
The quality of a determined person
is not how many times you fall but how quickly you get up,
brush yourself off and start again. You've all been equipped
with valuable knowledge and skills. You've met and reached various educational milestones.
You know how to learn and successfully tackled exams.
You could socialize with peers and you understand different people,
cultures and new technology.
You're important because you are the future of this world. The next steps you take in your journey
are about application of your knowledge and learning from those
who have experience in the world of work. You need to challenge the norm,
be innovative and introduce new ideas to organizations.
But most importantly it's about growing as a person.
For me, I worked in the family business from the age of 11 in school holidays
and weekends. This gave me a good work ethic.
My parents had a vision for me to learn and work in a business
built by my father and his brothers from humble beginnings.
Despite all the years working
in the business it was challenging to run a division of East End Foods.
I had to learn the ropes quickly and win the respect of my staff
and customers, not just be Daddy's Boy. A family business
is a solid platform to start your career but to excel,
you must grow, learn and improve constantly.
It's a very steep learning curve which currently has me running two of the
company's four depots and handling a broad range of departments.
Over the last three decades we've invested over £80million
into our infrastructure and now have a 400 strong workforce,
and over the next 15 years I'm committed
to build the East End brand into a global leader in ethnic foods.
This will obviously mean more investment,
more job creation and the development of my family's legacy
in this great city of Birmingham. To develop a growth strategy
it's essential to have a strong educational foundation and having a background in law,
I took the opportunity to educate myself further. I attained a Masters in Commercial Law in 2005
and became the world's youngest qualified Chartered Director at the age of 28.
In my voluntary capacity, at 31 I took the role of Vice Chair of the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership,
with responsibility to advise government and Whitehall
about business, education, planning and transport.
I also helped set up and chair the advisory board of the New Library of Birmingham
and this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to serve the city of Birmingham
for what is a magnificent national and globally significant project.
Last year I was appointed chairman at the Institute of Directors for West Midlands.
At the age of 35, I'm the first person of ethnic origin
and the youngest ever Chairman at the Institute of Directors since 1903.
My role means I'm working with government at local and national level
and find myself in the media from BBC News to Sky TV,
regionally, nationally and in some cases, globally.
I serve on the advisory boards of the Universities of Aston, Birmingham and Wolverhampton,
as well as working with various regional and national charities.
But being involved in all of these things keeps me busy
and more importantly allows me to bring knowledge back to East End foods.
I've by no means achieves what I aim to be, aim to do
and I continue to strive every day to learn and push the boundaries
of what I believe can be achieved. So I have a few tips
from my journey for you at the beginning of yours.
Have the courage to follow your heart. Honesty, integrity and hard work
are the basis of a successful career. You should always do more than is asked of you
and push yourself as much as you can.
This is an age of global business and to succeed,
you need to be aware of different cultures and business practices.
Be daring, innovative and ambitious in all you do
and stay hungry for success.
Busy people manage their diaries well and pack in
as much as they can. You only get one chance in life -
and life's too short to miss opportunities. Make the most of it and don't waste time.
Be proud of who you are. My turban and identity
make me recognizable wherever I go. I'm proud to be a Sikh
and also proud to be a Brummie.
University education is not the end of your journey, but the beginning.
Commit to lifelong learning, work as hard as possible
and enjoy what you do. This is the key to success.
You joined Aston University as students,
today you're graduates, tomorrow alumni.
May your lives be enlightened by wonderful connections you've made
and will continue to make. Remember that a journey of a 1000 miles
begins with just one step and having made such an excellent start,
the level of what you can achieve depends on believing in yourselves and being prepared to work hard.
Class of 2014, I wish you all the best, lots of success and every opportunity
to enrich your lives by growing as outstanding individuals, and learning.
Pro Chancellor, Vice Chancellor -
I'm truly humbled and thankful to Aston University
for recognizing my contribution to business in Birmingham and the UK
with this honorary doctorate. Thank you.