Arshad Chaudhry
Arshad Chaudhry is the Chairman and founder of the Asian Business Development Network, now known as ABDN. A dynamic professional with a passion for ICT, he is a director and senior consultant to the HCA Group of accountancy practices. He developed the HCA Group from humble beginnings 36 years ago to a regional practice. The Group is a multi skilled organisation specialising in tax mitigation strategies. It also includes FMP, a corporate finance company. Arshad was Group Internal Auditor for the Burton Group (now called Arcadia Plc). He is a director of the Business Link Yorkshire and has been on the boards of several institutions in the Region. Arshad helped setup CHEL, a flagship inner city regeneration company and was its Chair for a number of years. He has been a director of the Leeds Chamber, The Leeds TEC, Partnership Investment Finance and a governor of the Leeds College of Technology. He is keen to develop international trading links and has led UKTI sponsored trade missions overseas.
Arshad is in The Power 100 for Yorkshire & The Humber for the third year running as the 100 most influential and powerful people in the region.
Richard Bowers
Richard Bowers joined Midland Bank, which subsequently became HSBC Bank, from university in 1979. Following a traditional branch banking career path, which included management of two branches, and stints at head office, he began to specialise in commercial banking in 1990.
In 1998, Richard moved to Bradford to launch the South Asian Business initiative in the North East. He then led the unit for a six-year period, building it to become the bank’s most successful Asian unit in the UK. After a period heading business development of the Bank’s Islamic Finance initiative, he left banking in 2005 to join with Arshad Chaudhry in HCA Accountants, and FMP, a corporate finance company.
