My father, Arshad Ahmed, who has died aged 86, was a trailblazing British Pakistani businessman. He started out in Stockport at the age of 17, selling stockings on a market stall, and often slept there overnight to secure the best spot.
With much perseverance, he was able to buy his own premises, where he founded Ahmed’s of Stockport. It became the go-to place for affordable clothing and is still remembered fondly today by locals who described it as the Primark of its time. Building on this success, in 1960 Arshad created Jawaid Hosiery, one of Manchester’s most successful wholesalers in women’s fashion. By the time he stepped back from running the business in 2000, he had moved into importing and exporting clothing.
Arshad’s business success was rooted not only in hard work but in his remarkable ability to connect with people from all walks of life. He learned Yiddish to talk to his Jewish customers, conversed in Urdu, Hindi and Punjabi with all his south Asian shoppers, Arabic with his Arab customers, and mastered English as his main language.
A visionary in both commerce and community life, Arshad supported the re-establishment in 1971 of one of Manchester’s first mosques, Victoria Park. His greatest legacy, however, was forged in 1983, when he co-founded the Muslim Youth Foundation (MYF), operating from the fourth floor of his warehouse in the heart of Manchester.
