Owner, Entrepreneur Tommy Miah

Born in Bangladesh Career : Entrepreneur and Celebrity Chef Tommy Miah is one of the leading Bangladeshi businessmen in the United Kingdom where he owns the award-winning Raj Restaurant in Edinburgh, where he has substantial property interests. Edinburgh is also the home of his uniquely inspired Original Raj Hotel Group of individually styled Indian-themed boutique hotels. He is the founder and promoter of the International Indian Chef of the Year Competition: the most prestigious event in the Indian culinary calendar, attracting 5000 entrants – both amateur and professional – from all corners of the world. The competition is climaxed at a special awards ceremony held in conjunction with The Curry Ball, a black-tie event hosted by Tommy to raise funds for the Sreepur Village Orphanage in Bangladesh. Tommy Miah returns regularly to Bangladesh where he has diverse business interests and commitments including his signature restaurant The Heritage - the home of his original bangla-fusion style of cooking and fine dining. He devotes an increasing amount of his business energy to projects, ranging from clothing and textiles to food manufacture, in his native Bangladesh in an effort to raise the profile of his spiritual home and increase opportunities for Bangladeshis. Drawing upon his status as a media celebrity and TV chef, coupled with wide experience of international dining and catering, has resulted in the foundation of the Tommy Miah Institute of Hospitality Management to train young Bangladeshis and equip them to succeed in the international hospitality industry. In 2005, Tommy further extended his Bangladesh-based business interests with the launch of One Consumer Products bringing under one roof the Best of Bangladesh from original spices to fashion, textiles and household goods. His work for charities, both in Bangladesh and the UK, includes Cancer Research UK, Shishu Polli (Sreepur Village), Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP), ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital.