Rami Ranger, Baron Ranger

File:Dr Rami Ranger MBE FRSA.jpg

Dr Rami Ranger MBE, FRSA.
Chairman of Sun Mark Ltd and Sea Air & Land Forwarding Ltd

Dr Rami Ranger MBE is a successful entrepreneur and social and political reformer. His business interests span from his principal company, Sun Mark Ltd, which is an international marketing and distribution company, but he also has companies and business interests in diverse fields ranging from shipping to beverage manufacturing to property development. His company, Sun Mark, is the only company ever to have been awarded the Queens Award for Enterprise for four years running and he has now been honoured by Her Majesty the Queen on six occasions, five times for business and once for community service. He is also the Chairman and Managing Director of Sea Air and Land Forwarding Ltd, also a Queens Award for Export winner. This is actually where Ranger started his business career

Early life

Rami Ranger was born posthumously in July 1947 in Gujranwala (now in Pakistan) – two months after the assassination of his father. The son of a patriot and martyr, Shaheed Nanak Singh of Multan (now in Pakistan) with seven brothers and a sister. Shaheed Nanak Singh was fiercely against India’s partition and advocated that all should consider themselves to be Indians first and then only go for choosing the religion of their liking for peace of mind. He was assassinated by separatist fanatics while trying to save the lives of 600 students of DAV School, Multan (now in Pakistan) who had become caught up in religious riots. Though he could not save his own life, the students were saved as a result of his sacrifice for the sake of Hindu-Muslim unity in India. Inheriting the principles of his father, Ranger constantly puts his efforts to unite the Indians and Pakistanis living in the UK as he feels that the internecine effects of their enmity has been adversely impacting their cordiality so vital for their mutual benefits and peace between India and Pakistan and their new homeland, Britain.

Since the family had migrated to Patiala in the Punjab state of India during India’s historic partition, Ranger was given admission in Modern School Patiala. After the completion of his school education, he went to Mohindra College, Patiala and then obtained a B.A. degree from the Govt. College Chandigarh. He was brought up by his mother, a courageous and hard working lady who was a teacher and had to struggle hard to take care of her family and ensure good education for her children and get them married in good families. Thus, for all practical purposes, she became the bedrock of Ranger’s success. However, it was quite an arduous task for her to pull on such a large family by fulfilling all their necessities and that’s why there came a moment when Ranger had to discontinue his studies after reaching the UK where he had gone to study Bar at Law in May 1971. Ranger acquaints: “Due to unfavorable financial condition I could not complete my education and decided to take up job to earn money so that I can complete my studies. Regrettably, I could not fulfill my dream until today”.

Business Philosophy

Ranger started his first business in 1987 with just £2 capital from a shed. Ranger’s first business was of shipping cargo by sea, air and land. Now he owns two huge companies which are doing enormous business under his dynamic leadership. Today Ranger is the Chairman of Sun Mark Ltd and Sea Air & Land Forwarding Ltd, two of Britain's fastest growing companies with a combined turnover of over GBP £150 million. Both of his companies received the most prestigious Awards from Her Majesty the Queen, the Queen’s Award for Export Achievement 1999 and the Queen’s Award for Enterprise 2009,2010,2011 & 2012. When Ranger was asked about his business ethics that made him such a successful biz titan, he answered: “My work ethics are simple. I only succeed when my customers succeed. I work hard for the success of my customers which ultimately becomes my own success”.

Sun Mark entered the prestigious Sunday Times Profit Track 100 in 2011 and again in 2012. It was in position in 33 in 2011 and went up to position 25 in 2012.

Sun Mark was recently added to the Sunday Times International Track league table in position 102.

Sun Mark was recently made a National Champion by the European Business Awards for 2012/2013.

Social and Political work

Ranger was one of the founder members of the British Asian Conservative Link to make Asians more publicly and politically spirited and to encourage them to take part in the decision making process in Britain. Due to work done by the BACL, the Conservative Party, which previously had no Asian representation in Parliament, now has five MPs of Asian origin. Ranger, along with the other founder member, organised hundreds of high profile events to bring Tory leaders face to face with the Asians and the Asians face to face with the Tory leaders so that their perception of each other could be corrected. The Asian perception was that the Conservative Party was the party of the rich and elite and many in the Conservative party were under the impression that Asians were still a struggling community. It was essential to bring home a stark message that in a democracy there is one man one vote regardless of their colour, race or religion. A vote to the other party was a loss of two to us. Besides when a bad employer does not look after his staff, then the staff works for the competition and works against the bad employer. As a result of the work, I am proud to say that the Conservative Party has become stronger and Britain richer.

Ranger is the founder member of the Hindu Forum Britain which was set up to unite all the different Hindu Organizations in Britain under one umbrella so that they could project a cohesive voice in British government departments. He felt that it was essential for the public to know about the Hindu religion otherwise they would continue to depict Hindu deities in derogatory ways such as on carrier bags, shoes, T-Shirts etc. This would also damage the self esteem of Hindus. He organized the first ever prestigious Hindu Ball at the Hilton Hotel, Park Lane, London to celebrate Hindu culture and its contribution in enriching British society. The Ball helped the local population understand more about Hinduism and also stopped people from using images of Hindu Gods frivolously.

Ranger is the Chairman of the British Sikh Association which promotes interfaith dialogue. This was set up to stop the extremist Sikh organizations from representing the Sikh point of view in Britain. He has vigorously argued with these extremist organizations that the Sikhs were created to defend the unity, integrity and the basic human rights of every Indian and not to break her up. When Sikh Gurus never claimed a separate kingdom for themselves, then why should their followers demand a kingdom for themselves?

Ranger set up the Pakistan, India & UK Friendship Forum soon after the 7/7 and 21/7 bombings of the London Underground by British citizens of Pakistani origin. He realised that we have to make a conscious effort to build bridges with the Muslim community which was feeling isolated and dejected. He realised that Britain could not move forward by leaving any section of her population behind. Ranger recruited prominent Pakistanis in Britain and launched the Pakistan, India & UK Friendship Forum. The Forum proved to be an instant success and thousands of Pakistanis and Indians are now celebrating what unites us in Britain. He organized for the first time ever anywhere in the world the joint Independence day celebrations of India and Pakistan in London and in the process made history. It proved a watershed in the relationship between the people of India and Pakistan and now they are openly talking about peace between the two countries which they have not experienced since their Independence in 1947. His message is, we now have one country and Queen and as a result have become one.

Education, Charity and Helping the Underprivileged

in November 2012, Rami Ranger was asked to join the Princes Trust Enterprise Fellowship. The Fellowship is a collective of the UK’s leading entrepreneurs which works to enable The Prince’s Trust to reach young people and to pass on their experience and expertise to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Ranger is already a patron of the Princes Trust and not only helps financially but takes out time to deliver talks to children and youths from underprivileged backgrounds to share with them his story and experiences. He explains how he rose from being a refugee with no father and only an honest and noble spirited mother to raise him and seven siblings in a society where there was no welfare system and you could only succeed if you worked hard. His message is one of hope and accomplishment through honest means and that if you have the right approach to work and life then anyone can succeed.

Ranger also delivers lectures to MBA students to help inspire them and has received considerable appreciation for his honest approach and has himself been described as a "scholar of good sense". He recently lectured at Herfordshire University and was recently asked to present degree awards to graduates for 2012.

Ranger set up the Shaheed Nanak Singh Foundation with the mission statement of "To work in unity with all communities within the United Kingdom whilst respecting their cultural ethnicity and religious beliefs in order to overcome barriers, promote greater social cohesion and responsibility, and create wealth for the improvement of everyone and the objectives of: Promote a fuller participation in our social, political and economic life so that there is a recognised connection with, and a stake in the United Kingdom; Support, honour and acknowledge all those who work for inter faith tolerance and community cohesion; Use trade to overcome barriers between communities, promote mutual respect, trust and interdependency.

The foundation also holds an annual lecture in India promoting peace, acceptance of different cultures and religion so that varying communities may live side by side in harmony. The first lecture was held at the Punjabi University, Patiali, India in 2008.

Additional achievements, positions and honours

• In the Queen's Birthday Honours 2005 Ranger was appointed as a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for services to British Business and the Asian Community.
• Ranger as a patron of the Great Walk undertaken by the Chairman of the India Association UK helped raise £100,000 for research into the cure for AIDS and cancer for the Northwick Park and St. Marks Hospitals in Harrow.
• He is a Patron of The Prince’s Trust helping British youth where they have not been given a chance in life.
• He is a member of the Memorial Gates Commemoration Committee which keeps alive the memory of the fallen soldiers of the Commonwealth.
• He is a patron of HAVEN a UK registered charity providing medical and educational facilities to poor and needy people in India.
• He is the Patron of the India Association UK which raises funds for worthy causes like research into Cancer and AIDS.
• He is a Patron of the India International Foundation that celebrates success of Indians in Britain.
• As a Patron of the Shaheed Nanak Singh Foundation he is working to encourage British Indians to become more public and politically spirited.
• He is also the Patron of the Ethnic Minority Business Group supporting ethnic businesses in Britain.
• He is Vice President of the Punjabi Society of the British Isles promoting Punjabi culture in Britain.
• He is the Joint Secretary of the Friends Circle International promoting Social Cohesion in Britain with chapters worldwide.
• He is Chairman of the British Sikh Association promoting interfaith dialogue and understanding.
• He is Chairman of the Pakistan, India & UK Friendship Forum.
• Ranger’s Company won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise 2009, 2010, 2011 & 2012.
• His other Company Sea Air & Land Forwarding Ltd won the Queens Award for Export 1999.
• He received the GOPIO Community Service Award in 2012.
• He received the award for Business Person of the Year 2011 at the 11th Asian Achievers Awards in London.
• He received the “Asian Business of the Year” Award 2011 from Eastern Eye in 2011
• He received the “Entrepreneur of the year Award” by the Asian Voice newspaper in 2010 in the House of Commons
• He was the winner of the Business & Commerce Award from Lloyds TSB in 2009.
• He was a finalist in the Growing Business Awards by the CBI.
• He was also awarded the Asian Business Award by Asian Voice Newspaper.
• He was awarded a Doctorate by Preston University in Wyoming USA which has a branch office in the UK for his contribution to Business.
• The Indian Association UK presented him with an award for “Community Service”.
• The Indo British Partnership presented him with an award for increasing bilateral trade and business investment between the two countries.
• He received an Award for Industry from the India International Foundation.
• The NRI (Non Resident Indian) organization honoured him for his contribution to Business.
• He was awarded the Community Award by the GG2 Awards at the Grosvenor Hotel by Mrs Sarah Brown, wife of the then Prime Minister.
• Ranger was given a Community Service Award by the Secretary of State for Families, the Rt. Hon. Ed Balls MP on behalf of the Asian Voice.
• He was also a finalist in the Ernst Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. To reach this stage is by no means a small achievement.
• He received the Pride of India Award by the Punjabi Society of British Isles in November 2008.
• The Institute of Export Presented a Special Award to Sun Mark Ltd on 22 June 2012
• Sun Mark was a finalist at the National Business Awards 2012 in the category of International Growth Business of the Year.