Inspirational businessman wins ABCC President’s Award

Business and community leader Dr Jason Wouhra OBE is this year’s recipient of the Asian Business Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) President’s Award.

Jason was presented with the award by Omar Rashid, ABCC president, during the annual dinner and awards ceremony at the ICC.

Jason is a highly experienced company director and successful entrepreneur with a wealth of business leadership experience in addition to holding numerous civic and philanthropic roles, nationally and internationally.

Self-driven and highly ambitious, Jason was awarded the OBE by Queen Elizabeth II in 2017 for Services to Business and International Trade.

Jason is also proud to be the first person of Asian heritage to be appointed chancellor of Aston University. He is also the youngest.

Jason is CEO of Lioncroft Wholesale, one of the UK’s leading independent wholesale businesses.

Before Lioncroft Wholesale, Jason was a director of his family-owned business East End Foods plc, one of Europe’s most successful ethnic food ingredient businesses.

East End Foods was sold in 2019 to private equity and during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Jason bought back the wholesale arm of the business and relaunched it as Lioncroft Wholesale.

The business has grown over the past four years by 40 per cent and Jason aims to continue the expansion into different regions and sectors in the food and drink industry in the UK.

Jason has a degree and masters in commercial law and is an Institute of Directors Chartered Director.

In 2013, he became the youngest and first black and minority ethnic (BAME) chairman of the Institute of Directors in the West Midlands.

In addition to his appointment in 2024 as Chancellor for Aston University, Jason has held numerous prominent positions including non executive director of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.

He has held past and present chairmanships of the West Midlands India Partnership, Library of Birmingham Advisory Board, Spirit of 2012 Inquiry, Asian Business Chamber of Commerce, Birmingham Child Poverty Commission and Aston University Development Board.

He was also vice chair of the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership and a board member of the European Structural and Investment Fund.

Jason takes great pride in mentorship and advisory roles and is also involved in philanthropic work regionally, nationally and internationally, including his patronage of Acorns Children’s Hospice charity since 2018.

In 2023, he and his family launched the Lioncroft Foundation to support good causes nationally and across the world.

The Lioncroft Foundations first major donation was with the Cancer Trust to fund the research of Neuroblastoma, a form of childhood cancer, this is the first research of its kind into the condition.

Pictured from left to right: Dr Jason Wouhra and Omar Rashid