Speaker Rtn Saleem Kader

Saleem described himself as a Pilot, shooter politician and a family man. His parents came to the UK in the late 1950s as millworkers, then his father became bus conductors then a bus driver before finally buying a fish and chip shop up Great Horton Road. His parents changed this into a fabric shop called Bombay Stores. He continued for a while on the buses while his wife worked as a dress maker in the shop.

In 1980 Saleem wanted to go to university or join the RAF, but he was persuaded to join family business. Saleem saw the potential of wholesaling to similar outlets serving the Asian communities throughout the north. So, the family bought a 15,000 square feet disused garage in Shearbridge Road Bradford which now houses Bombay Stores. To do this they took a loan from NatWest bank. Originally the bank was not keen to lend the money on what they saw as a speculative venture, but they were eventually persuaded, and the business was hugely successful.

By the 1990s it had become a very diverse business also selling to non-Asians. In 2004 Saleem described himself as having a midlife crisis and they bought larger premises in Woodhead Road to house the wholesale business. He spent a lot of money on this venture, but the credit crunch came in 2008, and sales were badly hit. Also, Brexit caused them to lose a lot of customers from the Republic of Ireland.

Originally the store sold mainly British fabric in the 1960s. As the cotton mills in Lancashire closed in the 1970s they started to source from Japan, then later Indonesia & Taiwan. It wasn’t until the 1990’s that they started sourcing from the Indian sub-continent.

Today the business sells lots of different brands supplies 450 retail stores through its wholesale business.

He said that besides the business he has had many roles over the years: -

• Rotary – currently president elect at Bradford Bronte.

• A member of the Conservative Association

• Part of Bradford Matters

• Part of Bradford Break Through

• A member of the Chamber of Commerce 

He believes that an important subject is getting social integration. At the age of 60 he wants to do more on multicultural integration. He is involved with launching Ambassadors for Bradford.

He said that he has 5 children 3 boys and 2 girls and his main hobby since 1996 has been flying. As a legacy he wants to leave something behind IN people- i.e. integration rather than for people.