incredible mother who was a teacher. Although she was not in a position to financially support Rami, she did what was best and instilled the right and correct values, which finally was the foundation to his success.
Today, Raminder Singh Ranger, Baron Ranger, CBE is a British businessman, and the founder of Sun Mark, an international marketing and distribution company. He is also chairman and the Managing Director of Sea Air and Land Forwarding Ltd. Both of his companies have been honoured and received prestigious awards from her Majesty the Queen. These include The Queen’s Award for Export Achievement in 1999 and the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade for an unprecedented 5 consecutive years; 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 & 2013. No other company in Britain has received this accolade to date and Sun Mark has set a new British business record. The then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the Rt. Hon. David Cameron MP, presented the 5th Queen’s Award to Rami personally at his offices.
In 2005, Rami was made a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for his services to British Business and the Asian Community. His continued contribution and achievements in business, community affairs and philanthropy were further recognised when H.M. The Queen elevated his Queen’s honour from an MBE to a CBE (Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in the 2016 New Year’s Honours List. He is a man of vision and works tirelessly to raise the profile of Asians in Britain and he has launched many ground breaking initiatives to strengthen democracy and social unity in Britain.
Rami has been awarded two honorary doctorates including a Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) which is highly regarded in the UK from the University of West London in July 2016. His first was awarded by Preston University in the USA for his contribution to business.
Mr. Singh co-founded the British Asian Conservative Link, in an effort to make Asians more publicly and politically strong-willed and to inspire them to take part in the decision-making process in Britain. Due to the BACL’s hard work, the Conservative Party, which previously had no Asian representation in the House of Commons, now has 3 Secretary of States and a number of MPs of Asian origin. Rami, along with the other members, organised hundreds of high profile events to bring Tory leaders on a one on one with the Asians and the Asians on a one on one with the Tory leaders so that their perception of each other could be rectified. The Asian opinion was that the Conservative Party was the Party for the rich and elite and many in the Party were oblivious of the importance of the Asian vote.
The result is that the Conservative Party has become stronger and Britain has become richer.
Rami is also a founder member of the Hindu Forum Britain, which was set up to bring together all the different Hindu Organisations in Britain under one umbrella so that they could develop a unified voice to the various British government departments. Mr. Singh was of the opinion that it was crucial for the public to improve their knowledge about the Hindu religion or else they would continue to expose revered Hindu deities in offensive ways such as on carrier bags, shoes, t-shirts etc and this would also in turn harm the confidence of Hindus. The first ever Hindu Ball was organised by Rami at The Hilton Hotel Park Lane in London to celebrate Hindu culture and its involvement in elevating British society. The Ball assisted the local population realize and comprehend more about this peace-loving community and helped avert people from using images of Hindu deities flippantly.
The Pakistan, India, UK Friendship Forum was set by Rami immediately after the 7/7 and 21/7 attacks on the London Underground by British citizens of Pakistani origin. Rami realised the importance of having to make mindful and conscious efforts to gap the bridge between the Muslim community who were feeling very quarantined and unhappy. In this situation, Rami realised that there was no possible way for Britain to accelerate if they were to exclude any segment of its population behind. At this point, Rami brought on board prominent Pakistanis in Britain and was then that the Pakistan, India & UK Friendship Forum was born. The Forum without a doubt asserted itself to be an instant success and thousands of Pakistani and Indians are rejoicing what brings them together in Britain.
For the very first time in the world and making history, Mr Singh orchestrated a joint Independence Day Celebrations of India and Pakistan in London. This proved to be a defining moment between the people of India and Pakistan and they now openly discuss the peace between their two nations which was more or less a tabooed subject since their independence in 1947. The result of this can be grasped in initiatives such as the opening of the Kartarpur Corridor in 2019.
His message is that we now have one country and Queen and as a result, have become one.
Mr. Rami devotes his time mentoring underprivileged youth so that they too can realise their ambitions and become honourable citizens who are in a position to contribute positively to their families and country. He instils in them that they do not need a rich family or an elite education to be successful in life. He tells that he did not have a father, let alone a rich one, nor did he have an elite education or the old schoolboy network to help him in life. He says that all one needs are self-respect, work ethics, commitment and empathy for others to succeed.
Rami is also the Chairman of the British Sikh Association, which encourages interfaith dialogue for peaceful coexistence. This was set up to promote the vision of The Sikh Gurus for mankind. He advocates that we must always follow the teachings of our illustrious Gurus and not that of self-proclaimed leaders.
Rami was appointed by the Conservative party as the new Co-Chairman of the Conservative Friends of India. As Co-Chairman, the role includes developing closer ties between the UK and India as well as developing greater engagement with British Indians to enhance their participation within politics and decision-making in the UK.
Rami firmly believes in supporting education and serving to deliver better facilities for students. His message on this is very clear and says that if his mother had not been educated, he would not be where he is today. To support his belief, he donated £250,000 to The London South Bank University to set up a fund for Entrepreneur Excellence and to establish the Lord Rami Ranger CBE Centre for Graduate Entrepreneurship which provides a hub and workspace for students and graduates on enterprise programmes. The centre was opened by The Rt. Hon. Theresa Villiers, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
In addition, Rami has also donated £200,000 to the University of West London towards a new group pavilion in its campus library to improve facilities for students and also to develop student accommodation.
Rami donated £100,000 to the Gandhi Memorial Foundation Trust which erected a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Parliament Square, London. Rami was quoted as saying “The world owes Gandhi Ji a huge debt of gratitude for liberating one-fifth of mankind through non-violence, thereby creating a better world”.
Rami supports many other worthy causes. As a Patron of the ‘Great Walk’ undertaken by the Chairman of the India Association UK, he helped raise £100,000 for research into the cure for AIDS and cancer at the Northwick Park and St. Mark’s hospitals in Harrow. He donated £100,000 to Thames Hospice in Maidenhead, £150,000 to The Prince’s Trust, £50,000 to Cancer Research UK, £25,000 to Combat Stress, helped raise £25,000 for Help the Heroes along with £20,000 through organising a walk for the heart and stroke campaign at Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow. He has further donated £125,000 to the Indian Gymkhana to build accommodation for athletes.
