Simon Arora

Simon Arora (born November 1969) is a British billionaire businessman, CEO of the retail chain B & M.

Simon Arora
BornNovember 1969 (age 52)
NationalityBritish
EducationCambridge University
OccupationBusinessman
Spouse(s)Shalni Arora
Children2 daughters
RelativesBobby Arora (brother)
Robin Arora (brother)

Early life

Simon Arora was born in November 1969.[1] He studied law at Cambridge University.[2]

Career

Arora worked as an analyst for McKinsey, 3i and Barclays.[2]

In 1995, he went into business with his younger brother Bobby Arora, 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.[2]

In 2017, Simon and Bobby Arora cashed in £215m of shares and reduced their stake in B&M by a quarter, three years after taking it public.[3]

As of May 2019, the Arora brothers (Simon, Bobby and Robin) jointly have a net worth of £2.26 billion.[4]

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.[5][6] 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.[7][8] 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.[9] 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.[9][10] 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.[10][7] 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.[8]

Personal life

He is married to Shalni Arora, who has a Natural Sciences degree from Cambridge University, and was a co-founder of bio-tech business DxS.[11] They have two daughters.[12]

Arora owns three of the flats at 3–10 Grosvenor Crescent, a Grade II* listed terrace in London's Belgravia district, where he unsuccessfully opposed a legal dispute about concierge services in 2017.[13]

References
  1. "B & M Retail Limited". Companies House. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  2. "Simon and Bobby Arora - B&M". Managementtoday.co.uk. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  3. "Billionaire brothers sell stake in UK discounter B&M". Financial Times. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  4. Britton, Paul (10 May 2019). "The Sunday Times Rich List 2019: The 15 richest people in Greater Manchester, Cheshire and the north west". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. "Simon & Shalni Arora - Asian Power CouplesAsian Power Couples". Asianpowercouples.com. 30 June 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  12. James Ferguson (2 July 2010). "Brothers on their way to creating the new Woolies". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  13. "Owner of £18m flat wins court fight over lack of concierge staff". 21 November 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2017.


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