Four Remarkable Finalists From Leeds Announced For The 2021 Black British Business Awards

Founded in 2014, the Black British Business Awards (BBBAwards) celebrates the exceptional performance and outstanding achievements of black professionals and business owners in the UK and empowers organisations with the necessary tools to attract, retain and progress their internal Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic talent.

Throughout its history, the BBBAwards has focused on research-led, impact-oriented initiatives which drive change in the talent agenda. It makes for a collaborative community for organisations to exchange ideas, share advice and empower each other to create working environments for all talent to thrive and succeed.

Thirty-nine remarkable black professionals from across the UK have been selected for their outstanding personal achievements and for the personal work they are doing to defy stereotypes and reshape the business world around them.

The theme of the 2021 Virtual BBBAwards Ceremony is ‘Amplify’. After a turbulent eighteen months of the Covid-19 pandemic; it’s disproportionate impact on Black communities; the revival of the Black Lives Matter movement and the recent racist incidents that surfaced after the Euros football final, it is vital that we stand together to celebrate the economic and cultural contributions Black people make to the UK economy.

Two Leeds-based finalists spoke to the Yorkshire Times about what the awards means to them and to tell us more about their diverse and dynamic work.

Interested in West African jewellery due to their Nigerian heritage and encouraged by compliments about their work, Dr Opemiposi Adegbulu & Taiwo Adegbulu started Omolola Jewellery, whilst Opemiposi was undertaking a PhD at Leeds University. The sisters viewed it as an effective way for them to connect, make extra money and look after their mental health and well-being.

Taiwo says she had just graduated from university and didn’t quite know what to do. “I had a quarter life crisis. After I had fixed a piece of Opemiposi’s broken jewellery I knew we could make and mend jewellery and that was the beginning.”

“I didn’t have direction and so, to be nominated as rising stars has just blown my mind. It’s something I thought I could never achieve. It shows me that I don’t have to go down the conventional route to achieve success in life.”

They comment that being a finalist is recognition for their niche business. Opemiposi says: “For us it is a badge of approval from our core audience. Being a finalist indicates that our pieces are liked and its appreciation for the care we put into curating and making the pieces. It’s a big achievement for us.”
Both have broken two glass ceiling as black successful businesswomen.

Opemiposi comments: “I think being a woman in business sometimes means you are often not taken seriously, particularly as we do fashion. Investors sometimes think it is frivolous or not serious or an indication that we are not serious businesspeople which clearly, we are. We understand our market and know how to start a business from nothing and grow it.”

When Taiwo recently went to the University of Arts she says, “it was great to see students come up and say, ‘I have really wanted to start a business.’ I am doing fashion and it’s cool and inspiring to see a black woman doing the same and being successful. It is amazing we can inspire younger women because without seeing someone else do you may stop wondering what if?”

The one piece of advice the sisters have is: don’t let anyone put you in a box. “Cultivate your various interests and aspirations see where that takes you. Remember you don’t need to be perfect, start small on Instagram, Twitter or TikTok and let it grow naturally. Be consistent,” Opemiposi says.

The duo started out with just £200 and Opemiposi is grateful for the Leeds University Students’ Union, which was incredibly supportive. “They offered student stalls at fairs and that meant whilst a student I was able to have stalls for free to sell some of our pieces and introduce them to people who were visiting. That was an opportunity to grow, and we featured in the student magazine a couple of times and spoke on panels about entrepreneurship. Those opportunities of exposure were very encouraging because it was indicating that we were going along the right lines. Yorkshire has been incredibly supportive.”

Edgar Chibaka & Jamal Tahlil, Co-Founders and Directors at First Response Group (FRG) started their multi-service and security provider business delivering total security, vacant property, and facilities management solutions in May 2007. At first, they were operating from a little office on top of an internet café and kebab shop, sharing a single desk, single laptop, and a phone.

But with perseverance and determination they made inroads into the market and from humble beginnings growing their business to a whooping £25m+ annual sales turnover, employing directly over 500 people and a further 500 through the supply chain across the United Kingdom.

Along the journey they acquired Apardion Ltd, a £1.5m t/o similar type of business based in Aberdeen, focused on the oil and gas sector.

For Jamal being a finalist in the Black British Business Awards (BBBA) 2021 is wonderful because along the way there were a few challenges.

“Although we are British citizens, we had challenges to overcome. I won’t sugar coat it. To do business in the UK as black people is extremely hard. There is still prejudice from a minority but that said, there are still good positive people around. At least 90% of the people we interact with are fantastic, which makes up for the people we have come across who tell us to our face who we are, call us names and specifically demean us but we don’t let these voices count.

“We have determination and focus, and we built our business. What we have achieved we hope can stand as a role model for other black people whether of Caribbean descent or African heritage.”

Edgar picks up the point. “That is what we are about recognising ourselves and why we are proud to be finalists.

“It’s good to be recognised for our achievements for everything we have done. It hasn’t been easy that is a fact. And what does that mean to us? Here are two African immigrants wanting to overcome the challenges. For those in the same position who are trying at the minute, we are saying: look at us, don’t be discouraged because one person has called you a name or has said no to you. Be determined, focus on what you want to achieve, and you will achieve it.

“They are a lot of good people. We didn’t need to change our accents and therefore lose our two identities. We have lived in Yorkshire nearly all our lives and love being here with our families. We are immensely proud of that.”

These two business partners like the Adegbulu sisters want to be an inspiration to others.

“Being black does not mean you are a failure and whether you are black or white, the message we try and get over to our friends, colleagues and customers, is that if you have the motivation and work hard you will achieve.”

Edgar has a wonderful way of describing how they are collaborative and treat their colleagues as a family.

“In Africa there is this big thing around being communal. We tend to live as a communal society. Anybody, who joins our business, the first thing that we say to them is welcome to the FRG family and that is not just a cliché. It follows, where we come from, we exist as the bigger wider communal families with endless aunts, uncles, brothers and sisters and we value our people that is what we have brought to our business. Every one of our colleagues are respected in the same manner, and these are the kind of values we want relay to others. Respecting your staff, loving your customers, and doing the best for your customers that’s what we are about.”

However, Edgar points out that despite racist comments from the minority, Britain is where they chose to live and work.

“The UK is one of the most tolerant countries in the world - fact. It has welcomed us with an open hand and given us a playing field. We are not saying it is a racist country, look at us, being black is not a blocker you can succeed. The British indigenous white people are genuinely the most tolerant people, and we want to see the rest of the world copy it.

“We chose to be here and there is a reason for that. We loved the British way of doing things. The British have led the world and we wanted to be associated with the quality of life, the quality way of doing things, the British values which have respect for and tolerance. We were interested to come here because those values were exported into the African continent from the colonial days.

“We recognise the opportunity we have been given to raise our families and do business here.”

Very striking words and some of their other word stuck in my mind: People are key we want everyone to have a success in their lives, where there is hope there is life, where this no hope there is no life.”
Hear! Hear!

Sophie Chandauka, Executive Founder and Chair of the Black British Business Awards said: “After an extraordinarily challenging year, I am thrilled that for the eighth year running we are highlighting the resilience and abundance of brilliant, Black talent in Britain. Our finalists have delivered tremendous commercial value across sectors in volatile markets where entrepreneurs have been decimated. They have been strategic advisors to their companies and boards as global corporations are challenged by investors to address systemic racism. Despite the pandemic and social unrest, they are fiercely competitive and remarkably ambitious, creative, and commercially savvy, leveraging technology as their differentiator. They are global in their outlook and ambition and represent the very best of being British in a post-pandemic, post-Brexit Europe.”