Nottingham designer Ash Gangotra has scooped one of the top honours at the prestigious British Indian Awards 2014.
The entrepreneur, who runs the leading fashion and textiles design consultancy FashTex Ltd, walked off with the ‘Best in Creative Industries’ award at a glittering ceremony in Birmingham attended by more than 400 people.
The awards recognise a wide range of achievements in areas such as business, community, media and education – celebrating the determination, hard work and significant role played by British Indian people in UK society.
The competition is organised by accountancy and business advisory firm BDO LLP and the awards ceremony was hosted by DJ Neev of Kiss FM – with performances by singers Navin Kundra and Indiraa.
Ash said he was delighted and honoured to have received the award, which was sponsored by Polaris FT.
He added: “It was a wonderful event and I’m very proud to have received recognition like this especially from the wider Indian community as a whole. It makes all the hard work I have put in to running the business worthwhile whilst keeping Nottingham firmly on the map.”
Ash began his career in the fashion industry in the early 1990s, when he set up his own streetwear label Chameleon.
In 2009, he and fellow Nottingham designer Nick Holland founded the award-winning label Pretty Green alongside former Oasis singer Liam Gallagher, and were responsible for creating its main collections for the next three years.
After leaving Pretty Green, Ash became a designer for Chinese brand Bosideng, before leaving to set up FashTex Ltd – a design and textile consultancy and brand house.
The company’s brands include Ashoka Maurya, a casual lifestyle range inspired by the signature colours of India. For his latest collection, he has donated £3 for every garment sold to the charity CRY UK to help pay for children’s education and healthcare in India.
“In the West we take so much for granted,” he explained. “I have been very successful so far and wanted to give something back to the people of India, especially underprivileged children.”
Other nominees in the “Best in Creative Industries” category at the British Indian Awards 2014 were Professor Poonam Kumar (Mega Ace Consulting, London), Jat and Julia Mann (PC PAL, Birmingham), Inderpal Panesar (Mesh-Net, London) and Gurbakhash Sanghera (NSM Music, Leicester).
Arbinder Chatwal, Head of India Advisory Services at BDO LLP commented: “Congratulations to all the winners and finalists, who demonstrate an impressive mix of dedication, hard work, integrity and creativity.
“BDO is really pleased to see the achievements of the Indian community in Britain today being recognized and we are proud to be part of a ceremony that puts the spotlight on the very best in Indian talent.”
