Nadir Lalani

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Nadir Lalani is the founder of 99p Stores.

Career

After emigrating to the UK from Tanzania in 1971, Lalani began working in a newsagents. In 1978 he opened his first grocery store and by 1985 he owned 15 stores in London trading under the name Lalani Food and Wine. Lalani acquired 18 store Europa Chain and sold the business in 1989 to work in property.

After the market collapse, Lalani decided to return to the retail industry and in 1991 he bought two Whistlestop outlets in train stations and by 2001 he sold his 27 Whistlestop outlets for a 'very good price'.

Lalani's next move was to move into discounting and by 2005 he owned 30 99p Stores.[1]

In 2015 Lalani sold his 251 99p Stores and Family Bargains shops to rivals Poundland in a £55 million pound deal which consist of £47.5 million in cash and £7.5 millions worth of shares. In his last year trading, Lalani had annual sales of £370.4 million and underlying earnings of £6.1 million.[2]

Letter to the Telegraph

On 1 April 2015 Lalani was one of 103 business leaders who wrote to the Telegraph praising the British Conservative Party's economic policies and claiming a Labour government would 'threaten jobs and deter investment' in the UK.[3]

Notes

  1. In profile: Q&A with Nadir Lalani ownder of the 99p stores discount chain The Grocer, 12 March 2005, accessed 3 April 2015.
  2. Nadir Lalani owned 99p Stores sold to rivals for £55m Asian Image, 6 February 2015, accessed 3 April 2015.
  3. Peter Dominiczak, 100 business chiefs: Labour threatens Britain's recovery, Telegraph, 3 April 2015.