Reuben Singh "Young Sardar from Manchester"

REUBEN SINGH, the UK's youngest self-made millionaire, believes age is never a barrier to having entrepreneurial vision

HE IS a multi-millionaire with an established track record as an entrepreneur, and a key figure at the heart of New Labour's aim to make business sexy. But Reuben Singh is no ordinary corporate high-flyer.

Only 24, he has been setting the UK business world alight since 17, when he juggled his A-levels with a venture that earned him a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the UK's youngest self-made millionaire.

Today Reuben operates flourishing business empire worth over 100 million dollars and says that his next aim is to become another Bill Gates, sooner than latter and says - "The Guinness Book of World Records lists me as the world’s youngest millionaire, but the very next entry is Bill Gates, youngest billionaire, 30 years"

"I want to do that – he says so with a gleam in his eyes. That is REUBEN SINGH for you, Chairman of the RS Group of 11 companies that securely straddle old economy and new just as Singh is an East-meets-West man.

Though Reuben looks much older than his age, that could be perhaps due to his turban and weight what with all those business lunches -, and when told he looked much older than his current age and somewhere between 26 to 40 years old he says - "I know, that helped a lot when I was younger and suddenly, at the grand old age of 28, I feel like a babushka"

Singh also reveals that he has a plan to devote some of his new-found free time - he has, after all, he just sold his biggest business - to setting up a network of centers for young entrepreneurs and wants the government to back him. He is the most prominent member of a new breed of young Asian businessmen. When asked as to why the ethnic minorities successful in Britain?, he says that it was due to the fact that they came here in survival mode to make something of themselves.

Reuben Singh started his first business at the age of 18 and in just 5 years he expanded his first venture from one fashion accessory store to a national chain of stores across the UK and launched the international group RS Group of Companies, in February 2000 he completely sold the chain of which he was sole shareholder and Chairman.

Reuben is the sole shareholder and Chairman of the Reuben Singh Group of 11 Companies, trading in several industries: Property, currency trading, retail, venture capital, construction and the soon to be launched Wireless and internet enabled back office service's provider to SME's.

He has devoted one of his investment companies to focus on concepts started up by young entrepreneurs, and is an advisor on Entrepreneurship, serving on the DTI's Competitiveness Council, the Small Business Council and is Chairman of the Senate HRH Genesis Imitative.

Reuben's parents came to England from Delhi in the early 1970s, and ran a profitable Manchester-based company importing and distributing fashion accessories, and at the age of 13 he went on buying trips with his mother to the Far East, by age 16, his father was paying him a salary to run the sales department and at the age of 17 years, in the sixth form at school, he had his own "big idea" and founded Miss Attitude, the first of a chain of shops selling fashion jewellery under his logo 4U2NV (it makes sense if you say it out loud)

Reuben says "I would wake up at 6am and do my A-level homework before I went to school, after lessons, I would go straight to my shop, or when I had more than one shop, to the office and work there till very late and usually I would have four hours' sleep and be working the rest of the time, the first shop opened in March 1995 and it was so successful that I kept on opening more, about one every two weeks, I had to stop expanding, though, for three months while I took my A-level exams"

"It was very exciting, I do not need much sleep, not if I know there is something I have to do in the morning and I have huge amounts of energy"

And he also confesses that he did not miss out on normal teenage pursuits like friends, girlfriends, and parties though at the moment I do not have a girlfriend at the moment, in fact, the last four years have been business only. But no, I don't feel I missed out, I went to all the parties when I was at university studying business

Actually, he is rather an endearing lad. Manchester born and bred, he displays a touching devotion to his exporter father and mother, who originally arrived in Britain via Delhi and clearly loves his little brother, Bobby, 22, now a thriving hotel entrepreneur. He mentions about his houses in London, Manchester, and the US, at the same time dwells lovingly on his pact with the parents and says - no matter where we live, our main residence is still my father’s house in Manchester.

And another remarkable feature of his life is he as Indian as they come personally and culturally, yet he does not do business Indian style and mentions at the same breath he does plan to invest big time in India soon and that might be an extension of his British interests - property, fashion or the new Internet-enabled secretarial service he offers - alldaypa.com, though he still does not know what, where or when he will commit to India, the only certainty is his willingness to invest 50 million dollars and a fierce determination to establish an Indian base, complete with yet another house to add to others all over the world.

He is a devout amritdhari Sikh and counts visiting the Golden Temple in Amritsar every birthday, as one of the high points of the organic process of growing older and after the gurdwara, I spend two nights in Delhi having a blast.

Says Reuben, "My company, Miss Attitude, was my baby - my only baby, but now I've sold her, and then adds rather endearingly that I have three Cs in my life: my companies, my cars and my clothes and very soon I will have to add a fourth C, a companion though that is not top of my agenda"

Films are his other favorite form of escapism, he watches one every night, his favorite is Pretty Woman. The Singh social circle consists of some very close boy and girl friends and more high-profile people I have met in the last year in London

When asked about RACISM in Britain he says it is endemic in Britain and very much alive there is racism in Britain, particularly when it comes to institutions, it is clever and indirect rather than direct and overt. It is actions not words and attributes his success to strict self-discipline.

Current Obsession - Reuben Singh, who made a fortune from the sale of his Miss Attitude retail chain, is on the verge of closing a fundraising round for a new dot.com venture that he claims will be valued at £85m, an internet based virtual office and he is in advanced talks with the Arizona based Phoenix Fund, a specialist technology investment vehicle backed by five unnamed internet entrepreneurs.

Phoenix has offered to buy a 10% stake in alldaypa for £8.5m and may provide further cash for expansion into the US and if the deal is completed it would value Mr Singh's shareholding at around £60m, he provided the two-year-old firm with seed funding of around £3m. alldaypa launches this week and offers secure data storage, unlimited web space, virtual secretarial services and online personal organizers.

He also reveals that he has 11 strategic partnerships in place and is talking to a major high street bank about providing services for 550,000 small and medium sized business customers.

Ultimate Aim – he is honest and frank enough to acknowledge that his ultimate goal is still money. Or, more particularly, the desire to be Billionaire Bill before the age of 30 and the other goal, which money cannot buy, is a woman willing to be transformed into Mrs Singh, loving, compliant and accepting of the idea of a joint family. It would be a traditional finishing touch to a fairytale story - 18-year-old becomes millionaire, and then some.

REUBEN SINGH

Founder and Chairman of RS group of Companies

Business History

Reuben started the RS Group 5 years ago at the age of 17

The RS Group currently houses 11 companies all started by Reuben trading in several industries including: Property, Retail, Health food, Venture capital, and Currency trading

About to launch a B2B Internet venture aimed at entrepreneurs and business of all sizes

Achievements

Times 500 Most Powerful Individuals listed him as the "Most Powerful under 30 year-old in Britain" (1999)

European Entrepreneur of the Year 1999

Dubbed "Europe's Bill Gates" by the Sunday Times (October 1999)

Economist magazines "Rising Star" 1999

Listed in the Guinness Book of World Records 1998 - "World's Youngest self-made millionaire"

RS Group listed as one of the UK's fastest growing companies (Times Business Year Book 1999)

"Dream on Attitude" - Reuben's venture capital fund gained him a listing in the Sunday Business's "Britain's Top 50 Venture Capitalists"

Public Appointments

One of the country's 5 Ambassadors for Entrepreneurship along with Sir Richard Branson and Sir Alan Sugar

One of six members of the government taskforce to report on the DCMS Department of Culture, Media, and Sports

Serving on several government committees including Competitiveness Council

"Chairman of the Senate" of the Genisis Initiative

Advises the Government on Entrepreneurship and the SME sector

Advises 3 Government Think Tanks on Young Entrepreneurs

Prince's Trust

Reuben Singh - Biography

Reuben Singh started his business at an early age of 18 and over the last seven years has received many accolades for his business achievements including listings in the UK Entrepreneurs of the Year 2002 and in the Sunday Times “Power List”.

Now, 27 years old, Reuben is the Chairman CEO of alldayPA.com and the sole shareholder and chairman of the Reuben Singh Group of Companies, a private group that trades in several industries including property, currency trading, retail, venture capital and construction.

In 1999 Reuben began to evolve the alldayPA.com concept. Over the next two years alldayPA developed into a 24hr secretarial & business support services provider. Using technology extensively written and engineered in-house, the company patented telecommunications software and call centre technology enabling businesses to instantly activate their own live 24hr Personal Assistant and Secretary.

In 2003 alldayPA has now successfully embarked on an expansion strategy that will see the launch of over 20 new companies in the coming year.

Today, alldayPA is the market leader in SME outsourced business support services and has developed worldwide patent telecommunications software, which it has implemented into the operations of the alldayPA service.

In the summer of 2001 Reuben launched the Golden Fund, a £15m IT fund set up primarily to acquire ailing IT companies with a focus on core back-end technology and not necessarily with an Internet presence.

Reuben has now become actively involved in helping other young entrepreneurs realise their ambitions and has focused one of his investment companies, the “Dream on Attitude” venture capital fund, on developing their ideas and help the seed corn funding for start ups. RS Investments, another investment fund, was launched in 1999 with a strong focus on global emerging markets, fibre optics, and telecommunications.

Reuben has also held a number of public appointments, including serving on the DTI’s Competitiveness Council with Minister Patricia Hewitt, the small business Council and is chairman of the Patrons Club Genesis Initiative. He is also involved in the Arts & Business Initiative. He has also been an advisor on Entrepreneurship and one of the country’s appointed Ambassadors for Entrepreneurs.

Reuben Singh has also had his portrait hung in the National Portrait Gallery & was recently honoured by HM Queen for his contribution of ‘Pioneers to the Life of the Nation’ at Buckingham Palace in October 2003.

Reuben Singh – History and Achievements

Business History

• Reuben started his first company 9 years ago
• Reuben founded the RS Group
• The Group’s activities include property, retail, currency trading & construction
• Reuben founded and operates the “Dream on Attitude” venture capital fund
• Reuben launched alldayPA – business support services provider
• 2001 Launch of IT Golden Fund, aimed at internet/IT companies
• 2002 Launch of alldayPA. £15m acquisitions spree to acquire SME focussed Internet companies.
• AlldayPA won Microsoft “New Business of the Year” 2002
• 2003 Launch of IT Receptionist powered by alldayPA

Achievements

• Portrait in National Portrait Gallery.
• British Entrepreneur of the Year 2002
• Asian Entrepreneur of the Year 2002
• World Sikh Personality of the Year 2002
• Listing in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1998 – “Youngest Self-Made Millionaire”
• Listing in Times 500 Most Powerful Individuals as “Most Powerful under 30-year old in Britain”
• RS Group listed as “One of the UK’s fastest-growing private groups”
• Dream on Attitude, Reuben’s venture capital fund gave him a listing in the Sunday Business’s “Britain’s Top Venture Capitalists”.
• Listed in 2001 “30 under 30 list”
• Top 100 innovotars award 2003 by MIT, Boston.

Current & Former Public Appointments

• Appointed British Ambassador for Entrepreneurship
• Member of the DTI’s Competitiveness Council
• Member of the DTI’s Small Business Council
• Reuben is an advisor to the Government on the SME sector
• Served on a number of Government think tanks
• Chairman of the HRH Genesis initiative
• One of the six chosen to serve on the Government’s “Peer Reviews” to report on Government departments
• Reuben Singh has been named ‘Pioneers to the Life Of The Nation’ 2003