Asif Aziz is a London-based businessman. As the founder and Chief Executive of Criterion Capital, he is known for running companies that own key landmarks including the London Trocadero. Aziz is also the founder of the Aziz Foundation.
Early life
Born in Malawi in 1967, Aziz moved to London at the age of six. He acquired his first London property in the 1980s, whilst still at school. He graduated from the British American College London with a business baccalaureate. Aziz married in Luanda, Angola in 1996 and moved back to London to go back into work in July 2003.
Career
Aziz worked for property investment company Morgan Grenfell Laurie before moving back to Angola, Africa in 1993 where he made his fortune through the setting up of two food manufacturing businesses, including Golfrate Angola, which he sold in 2005. That same year he returned to the UK and established Criterion Capital, which acquired the London Trocadero leisure complex and Piccadilly Hotel on Piccadilly Circus in London for £225m. As CEO of Criterion Capital, he owns and manages a £2bn property portfolio across London and the South East of England, including 15 commercial buildings in the West End of London, the Docklands and Croydon. In 2005, the Evening Standard reported that he bought his first property aged 16 at an auction he visited with a relative. When asked his age, he exaggerated, saying he was 18. He bid £1.9m for the building opposite South Kensington tube station. Through Criterion, unveiled plans to turn the Trocadero into a 500-room pod hotel in 2009. In 2014, plans were also unveiled to open a TK Maxxretail store on the Trocadero site, though the media reported possible opposition from the Crown Estate. Aziz is reputed to be Britain's seventh richest Muslim in the UK. The Daily Telegraph ranked Asif Aziz as number 12 out of 40 in its list of successful entrepreneurs. He received considerable media attention during his divorce proceedings in 2017. Aziz has a number of charitable interests, both internationally and domestically. Internationally this includes supporting the Thokomala project in South Africa, which looks after orphans from the AIDS epidemic; supporting the Mosaic Future primary school mentoring programme through Criterion Capital, Seeing is Believing; a charity that helps sight restorations as well as helping to prevent other causes of preventable blindness; Camfed, the international organisation dedicated to eradicating poverty in Africa through the education of girls and the empowerment of young women; Unicef the international aid agency; The Olive Tree – a scholarship scheme aims to support outstanding young Palestinians and Israelis during their degree studies; and The Next Step Diversity Mark, a means for organisations to demonstrate their commitment to generating and supporting diversity at all levels. In the UK, he is the founder of the Aziz Foundation, which has supported community initiatives including Citizens UK, The Prince's Trust's Mosaic programme and Refugee Action.
