Saturday, June 18 2005 11:58 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: NRI entrepreneur Nadeem Ahmed's Global Tea and Commodities Ltd has been conferred Queen's Award for Enterprise 2005, one of Britain's most prestigious awards for business performance.

At a glittering function held at the Whitehall Palace last night (Jun 18, 2005), Ahmed was presented the hand-made crystal bowl and a certificate on behalf of the Queen amid applause from dignitaries including Indian steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal and Sir G K Noon.

The Queen's Award for Enterprise is one of UK's most prestigious awards for business performance and recognizes the consistent progress in Sustainable Development achieved by the Global Tea over the last decade.

Starting in 1992 with just two employees, the Global Tea now employs 13,500 people with an annual turnover of $132 million.

Accepting the Award, Ahmed, founder and Managing Director of the Global Tea and Commodities said the company has been having a roller coaster ride during the last eight years when it effected 12 acquisitions, 11 of which were making profit now.

"We are poised to double our business in the next two years," he said.