Asif Aziz

Asif Aziz
Born
Asif Haroon Aziz

1967 (age 56–57)
Blantyre, Malawi
EducationEmanuel School, Wandsworth
Alma materAmerican College, Kensington
Occupation(s)Businessman, philanthropist
EmployerCriterion Capital
TitleCEO
Children4
WebsiteAziz Foundation

Asif Aziz is a London-based billionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist.[1] As the founder and Chief Executive of Criterion Capital, he is known for owning and operating key landmarks including the London Trocadero and Criterion Building in Piccadilly Circus. Aziz is also the founder of family based charity the Aziz Foundation.

Early life

Born in Malawi in 1967, Aziz moved to London at the age of six.[2] He acquired his first London property in the 1980s, whilst still at school. He graduated from the British American College London with a business baccalaureate.

Career

In an interview with City AM, Aziz said that, "When I was still in school, I was intrigued by the London property market. My first ‘real’ job was at Morgan Grenfell Laurie where I learnt from the best in the commercial property industry. My first actual job was at McDonald’s flipping burgers." Aziz added, "I fell in love with property when I was just 16 and made my first acquisition."[3]

According to Private Eye,[4] quoting Labour MP Siobhan McDonagh, "Aged 16, [Aziz] is said to have turned up in London one day, out of nowhere, to buy property in an auction. He has been accumulating more and more property ever since."

Aziz worked for property investment company Morgan Grenfell Laurie before moving back to Angola, Africa in 1993 where he made his fortune through the setting up of two food manufacturing businesses, including Golfrate Angola, which he sold in 2005. That same year he returned to the UK and established Criterion Capital, which acquired the London Trocadero leisure complex, the London Pavilion (1 Piccadilly Circus) and The Criterion Building (1 Jermyn Street). Today, Criterion Capital are the biggest landowner in the Leicester Square - Piccadilly Circus corridor.[5]

As CEO of Criterion Capital, he owns and manages a £3.6bn property portfolio across London and the South East of England, including 15 commercial buildings in the West End of London, the Docklands[6] and Croydon.[7]

The London Trocadero, bought by Asif Aziz in 2005

In 2005, the Evening Standard reported that he bought his first property aged 16 at an auction he visited with a relative, after saying he was 18. He bid £1.9m for the building opposite South Kensington tube station.[8][9]

Through Criterion, unveiled plans to turn the Trocadero into a 500-room pod hotel in 2009.[10] In 2014, plans were also unveiled to open a TK Maxx retail store on the Trocadero site,[11] though the media reported possible opposition from the Crown Estate.[12][13][14]

Aziz is reputed to be Britain's seventh richest Muslim in the UK.[15] The Daily Telegraph ranked Asif Aziz as number 12 out of 40 in its list of successful entrepreneurs.[16]

Aziz has been criticised by the political magazine Private Eye for using companies registered in the Isle of Man to buy properties in London, especially pubs, and then close them down to replace them with more lucrative housing developments.[4] In 2020, The Times asked if Aziz was "the meanest landlord in Britain", due to the way he had treated tenants during the pandemic.[17][18] In 2022 he was criticised by Novara Media for continuing to buy community spaces like bars and nurseries and redeveloping them into luxury apartments.[19]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Asif Aziz Founder & CEO Piccadilly Circus Apartments". Piccadilly Circus Apartments. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  2. ^ "About Asif Aziz". About Asif Aziz. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  3. ^ Reporter, City A. M. (5 October 2023). "The Square Mile and Me: Asif Aziz on turning London's neglected spaces into eclectic landmarks". CityAM. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Manx for Nothing" (PDF). Private Eye. 27 November 2015. p. 14. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  5. ^ "Citerion Capital". Criterion Capital United Kingdoms. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  6. ^ "Criterion Capital in Docklands prs play". Property-magazine.eu. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  7. ^ Lloyd Davies (20 June 2014). "Criterion Capital Continues To Target Private Rented Sector". Gerald Eve. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  8. ^ "Mr West End". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  9. ^ "Asif Aziz property tycoon UK and RA – Related?". Jamiiforums.com. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  10. ^ Ruth Bloomfield (11 August 2009). "Trocadero centre to be turned into budget 500-room pod hotel". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  11. ^ Jonathan Prynn & Mira Bar-Hillel (10 March 2014). "TK Maxx to open Piccadilly superstore on Trocadero site five years after West End snub | London". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  12. ^ Deirdre Hipwell (21 February 2014). "Trocadero plan could cause royal row with Crown Estate". The Times. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  13. ^ "London's Trocadero in line for retail revamp". Property-magazine.eu. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  14. ^ "Trocadero – London Trocadero to get retail revamp". Propertymall.com. 21 February 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  15. ^ Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons, Westminster (24 January 2011). "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 24 Jan 2011 (pt 0004)". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 28 November 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ Finance (13 December 2006). "Made it by 40". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  17. ^ Meddings, Sabah (3 October 2023). "Has coronavirus made Asif Aziz the meanest landlord in Britain?". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  18. ^ "'It was more than a pub' – the story of five boozers forced to call last orders". The Guardian. 29 October 2022. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  19. ^ "Meet the Property Tycoon Closing Down London's Pubs". Novara Media. Retrieved 7 April 2023.