For decades Meenu Malhotra has built a successful property empire in the UK by valuing his people and giving back what he can to the community.

Meenu has lived in the UK for 42 years, after arriving here at the age of 18 where he began his career as a shop assistant within an uncle’s general store in Seaham. This involved working a 90-hour week for £30. This work ignited a long-held burning desire to make his own way in life.

“It was a humbling experience that taught me a lot,” Meenu says. Malhotra Group employs 1,200 people across their six main sectors consisting of Commercial Property Investment, Construction, Development, Finance, Leisure and Care.

Malhotra Group PLC is a part of the Malhotra Family Holding  Company and represents their UK-based business interests. Meenu has sat at the helm of the family company as Chairman since 1991, working closely with his younger brother, Bunty, and his eldest son, Atul, who are the remaining executive directors of the company.

Despite his outstanding business success, Meenu has not forgotten his roots, nor how difficult it can be to grow a successful business. As such, he spends a considerable amount of time mentoring a significant number of SME’s and investing in Little Angels and Start-Ups, both in the UK and internationally, and sharing with them his wisdom and experiences.

He is a Founder Board member of the West Midlands India Partnership Advisory Board which aims to enhance UK-India relations and boost mutual Trade & Investment. He was named Asian Businessman of the Year in 2009, was runner up in the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ award in 2013, and in 2020 was named in both the North East’s list of most influential South Asians and The Northern Asian Power list as a Business Leader.

He is also a MacKenzie Friend to the Ethnic community, and actively assists the Hindu Temple and other causes for the local Asian community. In addition to the above, Meenu is an active supporter of many charities, both personally and via Malhotra Group PLC, and as part of the Indian projects mentioned earlier, he wishes to build a multi-faith Temple for the people of his birthplace, in Ludhiana, Punjab, India.

“One thing about the North East of England is the attitude and aptitude of the people I work with, it is exemplary. They just get on and do it, no fuss, and they wear their hearts on their sleeve, I feel blessed to be part of that family.”

Caring, Building, Relaxing

The company works across six main segments in total but has three direct subsidiaries in Care, Property, and Leisure.

In their property sector, the primary concern is for the environment, not just in terms of carbon emissions or energy efficiency, but in terms of the vitality of the neighbourhoods, it works in.

The company’s priority isn’t just in finding developments that can be profitable, but ones that allow it to preserve local heritage.  These properties include the iconic Balmbras and our new Head Office, along with many other buildings in the North East of England.

A multimillion-pound development scheme on Grey Street, Newcastle will transform several buildings into a luxury 120-bedroom hotel complex with a rooftop swimming pool, nightclub, restaurants and retail outlets.

Back to His Roots

Having achieved a great deal in the North East of England already, Malhotra Group is now beginning to look at developing internationally. Meenu has personally overseen the pursuit of significant business opportunities in his birthplace of  Ludhiana, India, as part of Malhotra Family Holdings. One such project is the development of 1100 apartments, a 300,000 square foot shopping mall, hotel and multiplex cinema.

The company is in advanced negotiations for a further exciting new project, the development of a 300-acre Golf Estate which will include a Jack Nicklaus designed PGA championship golf course, a five-star hotel and international school from the UK, retail and commercial, also in his home town of Ludhiana.

This project, like the vast majority of Malhotra Group’s work, is born out of his desire to constantly improve, achieve and embrace challenges.

If there is one lesson Meenu has learned throughout his 42-year career, it is the importance of having the right people.

“We have taken on some important new engagements, David Elliot recently commenced as our new CFO and Kathryn Nicholson will be joining us in the coming weeks as FD. We are going to create some new positions in the group to boost our structure, adding people in HR, PR, marketing and legal, all in-house. The most important investment is in your people, their skills and developing their growth.”

Whilst Meenu has worked incredibly hard over the last 42 years, he admits he could not have achieved this without the support of his loving family, in particular his brother Bunty and son Atul who remain the most important people in his life.