In an old unit on a worn-out industrial estate in Wales, Kamal Ali is typically hard at work.
In 2016 the unassuming former teacher came up with an idea which went global before it even arrived on UK shores. Today Kamal sells to 180 companies, exports units to more than 40 countries, and owns a company selling a product with huge international demand.
From starting out as the only man on his fashion design university course to teaching creatives in Cairo and growing his business My Salah Mat after noticing his youngest son struggling to pray at home, Kamal has crammed a lot into his 40 years - but nothing has come easy for him. The father-of-two and husband from Pillgwenlly in Newport, one of Wales’ most deprived communities, struggled with undiagnosed dyslexia in school and had to work “super hard” to pass his GCSEs before studying at the old Caerleon campus and winning a scholarship for his MA product design degree.
