Entrepreneur Moni Varma

Born in Malawi youngest of 8 siblings. In 1980 met wife Shobha and married shortly after. Two children Priya, and Rajiv. Chairman Veetee Rice Group. Career : Invested £300 in wire and made good profit. In 1985 relatives in India asked Moni to help them find rice buyers in the UK. founded Veetee Rice in 1987 and from its humble origins as a producer to the ethnic market in London, Veetee Rice has developed as one of the UK's largest volume suppliers of rice to the UK grocery trade. In 1993, Veetee Rice relocated to a purpose-built riverside site in Kent and this, coupled with a multi million dollar investment in plant and facilities, equipped the company to become one of the major rice suppliers in Europe. Veetee is currently the largest rice supplier to the UK retail trade, supplying both the Veetee brand and supermarket own-brands. The Group currently exports rice to about 50 countries from its 5 factories around the world. In 2005, recognising that the way forward was in the field of value added products, a new 30 million dollar factory was built near to the original rice mill in Medway, Kent with the intention of producing ready-to-eat convenience foods from Italy, Japan, Thailand, India and China, using an innovative technology to achieve a product which is vastly superior to those already on the market. In 2003 he was appointed Honorary Consul for The Republic of Malawi. Named 'Asian of the Year' 2006 Hobbies/Pastimes : His passion is cricket. He was hugely involved in the redevelopment of Oval Cricket Ground, organising the Asia versus the Rest of the World match and sponsoring Bangladesh in the World Cup. Boasts a very good golf handicap of 8.