An organisation which helps ethnic minority firms compete for contracts with multinationals has unveiled ambitious long-term growth plans by launching a new board of mentors and ambassadors.
MSDUK has elected an executive committee of six entrepreneurs from within its network to help grow and strengthen its current offering.
The aim of the committee is to champion the issues that are being faced by the network’s ethnic minority businesses (EMBs) and be the main link with corporate organisations and MSDUK‘s board of directors.
MSDUK has helped EMBs win an estimated £60 million of contracts since it was formed in 2006 and now has corporate members which include Mastercard, Johnson & Johnson, Barclays and GlaxoSmithKline.
Mayank Shah, CEO at MSDUK, said the EMB executive committee was part of a growth plan for the organisation.
He said: “We have had a long standing demand from all our suppliers to provide a platform to voice their issues and concerns and we are very excited by forming this new committee.
“They have been elected by their peers within our network and will now play a very important role on our ongoing strategy for MSDUK.
“There is a very interesting mix of different industries in this new committee and with their collective business experience will help MSDUK become even more productive and we look forward to working with them.
“The committee will contribute constructively to the growth of MSDUK and also have a representation on the MSDUK board of directors.”
The EMB executive committee, which will meet once a month, include Denise Nurse, CEO/Founder, Halebury and Naheed Afzal, Director, Contracts IT Recruitment Consulting who will represent London and South East.
The Midlands will be looked after by Arnab Dutt, Managing Director, Texane and Reshma Sheikh, Director of Business Development, Octavian.
Dee Patel, Director, Lynx DPM and Olu Joseph-Asikhia, Managing Director, Synergy Organisational Solutions will oversee the remaining regions.
MSDUK, based in Leicester, currently has over 37 corporate members and over 300 EMBs. The not-for-profit organisation is funded by its members and offers support and networking while promoting business opportunities.