Asian Business Award For Care Homes Director

The director of a group of Scottish care homes for the elderly was named newcomer of the year in a UK awards ceremony recognising Asian enterprise.

Arti Poddar, who has just been made managing director of the Asian faith channel, Aastha, picked up the honour in the presence of the Duke of York at the Eastern Eye Asian Business Awards ceremony in The London Hilton last night.

The 23-year-old, who runs Lambhill Court, which operates four care homes in Glasgow, was named Young Achiever of the Year Award at the Scottish Asian Business Awards last year.

She said: “I am very happy and honoured. This award is not just for me, it also recognises the work my parents have done here in starting the business. They have provided the platform to allow me take it further.

“I feel fortunate to get such a good start in life and to be able to do so much at a young age.”

A spokesman for the awards said: “Volunteering with elderly care home activities at Lambhill Court Ltd before commencing part-time work at the young age of 16, Arti Poddar has been able to evolve and develop with a changing care industry.”

After obtaining a BSc (Honours) from the University of Strathclyde, she successfully moved from administrative roles at Lambhill to the role of personal assistant and then to managing director.

Since January 2006, Ms Poddar has been operations director of Lambhill Court Ltd where she is directly responsible for approximately 250 service users and 250 employees within the company.

“Though her objectives may have changed as her understanding and knowledge base has increased, her goal to sustain and encourage the independence and happiness of elderly residents remains,” said the spokesman.

“Her innovative tactics to restructure management to infuse greater and diversified skills into the care homes was acknowledged in the form of an Investor in People Standard.

“A woman of action, Arti frequently meets with key area leaders, industry experts and political authorities, such as Glasgow City Council, to draw attention to concerns, and to accelerate quality elderly care’s move forward.”

The KPMG Entrepreneur of the Year was Surinder Arora, of Hayes, who started his career as a wine waiter 28 years ago and is now the owner of 14 five-star hotels in England. Arora International is the largest family-run, independent hotel chain in Britain, including purpose-built hotels at Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester.