Bobby Arora

Bobby Arora (born January 1972) is a British billionaire businessman, trading director of the retail chain B & M.[1]

Bobby Arora
BornJanuary 1972 (age 49)
NationalityBritish
Occupationbusinessman
Titletrading director, B & M
RelativesSimon Arora (brother)
Robin Arora (brother)

Early life

Bobby was born to an Arora family in January 1972.[2]

Career

In 1995, he went into business with his brother Simon Arora, and founded Orient Sourcing Services, importing homewares from Asia and supplying them to UK retail chains, before buying B & M in 2004, which was then a struggling grocery chain based in Blackpool.[3][4] He has been trading director of B&M since 2005.[1]

Jointly with his brothers Simon and Robin, they have made £2.1-billion since taking over the Blackpool-based grocery chain in 2004. Their earnings soared during the COVID-19 pandemic.[5][6]

COVID-19 rates relief

In March 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, gave business rates relief and furlough payments to businesses in the hospitality and retail sectors.[7][8] B&M was among several businesses classified as 'essential retailers' and as a result was allowed to remain open when other 'non-essential businesses had to close.[9][10] In November 2020, B&M and other retailers were subject to a public outcry for having not handed back payments totalling £1.8 billion intended for propping up retailers prevented from trading due to restrictions, despite making record profits.[11] The retailer declared £296m in profit and as a result issued a £250m special dividend despite having received £38m in business rates relief and £3.7m in furlough payments.[11][12] The Arora brothers received a combined total of £37m of the special dividend due to their 15% shareholding which is said to worth at least £750m.[12][9] The firm agreed to pay £80m in business rate relief it had saved, a move mirrored by major supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury's and Morrisons.[10]

Personal life

Simon describes his brother Bobby as a "born trader".[4]

References
  1. Stocks. "Stocks". Bloomberg. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  2. "Bobby ARORA - Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  3. "Simon and Bobby Arora - B&M". Managementtoday.co.uk. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  4. James Ferguson (2 July 2010). "Brothers on their way to creating the new Woolies". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  5. McCoid, Sophie; Neville, Simon (12 November 2020). "Liverpool billionaire B&M brothers to net £44m windfall". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  6. "'We like to keep it simple': the rapid rise of B&M's Arora brothers". The Guardian. 7 January 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  7. Chapman, Ben (24 March 2020). "What support is the government offering to get through the coronavirus pandemic?". The Independent. Northcliffe House, London: Independent Digital News & Media Ltd. Archived from the original on 7 January 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  8. Jahshan, Elias (18 March 2020). "Chancellor extends one-year business rates holiday for all retailers - Retail Gazette". Retail Gazette. Marylebone. Archived from the original on 7 January 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  9. Partridge, Joanna (12 November 2020). "Lockdown sales boost at B&M prompts £250m special dividend". The Guardian. Kings Place, London. Archived from the original on 7 January 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  10. Chapman, Ben (7 January 2021). "B&M Bargains boss pays himself £30m after bumper sales during lockdown". The Independent. Northcliffe House, London: Independent Digital News & Media Ltd. Archived from the original on 7 January 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  11. Wood, Zoe; Kollewe, Julia (3 December 2020). "£1.8bn-plus in Covid rates relief to be handed back as B&M joins list". The Guardian. Kings Place, London. Archived from the original on 7 January 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  12. Pratley, Nils (12 November 2020). "Treasury messed up over B&M's Covid rates freebie". The Guardian. Kings Place, London. Archived from the original on 7 January 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2021.


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