Board of Directors

Sir Mohammed Anwar Pervez, OBE HPk is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of United Bank Limited since December 2013. He is also Member of Human Resources & Compensation Committee (HRCC) and Board International Committee (BIC) as well as Chairman of the Board Nomination Committee (BNC). Moreover, he is the Chairman of Bestway Group & its subsidiaries, which include Batleys Limited, Well Pharmacy and Bestway Cement Limited.

Sir Anwar began his career in food business in 1963 when he opened a convenience store in London. He ventured into the wholesale business in 1976 and has been responsible for growing Bestway Group into the 9th largest family business in the UK.

Today, it is the 2nd largest wholesaler in the UK, the 3rd largest retail pharmacy in the UK, the 2nd largest cement producer in Pakistan and the 2nd largest private bank in Pakistan. The Group provides employment to over 33,600 globally.

Sir Anwar was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1992 and was conferred the title of Knight’s Bachelor in 1999 by Her Majesty the Queen for his services to the food industry and various charitable causes in the UK. In 2000 he was awarded ‘Hilal-e-Pakistan’.

In 2005, Sir Anwar Pervez was voted winner of the prestigious ‘Grocer Cup for Outstanding Business Achievement’ by the Institute of Grocery Distribution, UK.

In 2006 he received ‘Sitara-e-Essar’ by the President of Pakistan. The same year he was chosen as the ‘Master Entrepreneur – UK’ at the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2006 Awards.

In 2011, Sir Anwar was awarded with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by FC College Lahore.

In 2012, in recognition of his philanthropic services to the Community, the University of Bradford conferred on Sir Anwar Pervez an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.

He is also the Chairman of Bestway Foundation UK and Patron-in-Chief of Bestway Foundation Pakistan.

Lord Zameer Mohammed Choudrey CBE, SI Pk has been a Member of the Board of Directors of United Bank Limited since October 2002. He is also Member of the Board Risk & Compliance Committee (BRCC), the Human Resources & Compensation Committee (HRCC), the Board Nomination Committee (BNC) and the Board International Committee (BIC).

He is the Chief Executive of Bestway Group, which is the 9th largest family owned business in UK with annual turnover of £4.5 billion. The Group is the 2nd largest wholesaler in the UK, the 3rd largest retail pharmacy in the UK, the 2nd largest cement producer in Pakistan and the 2nd largest private bank in Pakistan. The Group provides employment to over 28,000 globally.

Lord Choudrey is a Chartered Accountant by profession. He joined Bestway Group as a Financial Controller in 1984. In 1990, he was promoted as the Group Finance Director. In 1995, he was given additional responsibilities of business diversification both in UK and Pakistan and was promoted as Chief Executive of Bestway Cement Limited. He was appointed as the Group CEO in 2004.

He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accounts of England & Wales. He is the Chairman of Conservative Friends of Pakistan.

Lord Choudrey is a trustee of Bestway Foundation UK and Chairman of Bestway Foundation Pakistan. He is also a trustee of Crimestoppers.

In 2011 he was part of the International Leadership Team of HRH Prince of Wales Pakistan Recovery Fund.

In April 2013; he was invited to join The British Asian Trust’s UK Advisory Council and in January 2018 he was appointed its Chair.

In November 2014, he was awarded an honorary degree by University of Kent in recognition of his philanthropic services to the community.

In December 2015, he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Her Majesty the Queen for his services to the UK wholesale industry and various charitable causes in the UK and abroad.

In March 2018, the President of Pakistan awarded the Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence) to him in recognition of his contributions to advancing Pakistan through his services and the wide array of philanthropic work.

In June 2019, he joined the Commonwealth Enterprise & Investment Council's Advisory Council.

In September 2019, he was appointed to the House of Lords, UK. This appointment is in recognition of his considerable contributions to Britain’s domestic and foreign trade as a leading businessman and entrepreneur, his wide array of philanthropic work both in the UK and abroad, and his role as Chairman of the Conservative Friends of Pakistan.

Mr. Haider Zameer Choudrey has been a Director of United Bank Limited since March 2014. He is also Member of the Board Audit Committee (BAC), Board Nomination Committee (BNC) and Board International Committee (BIC). He is the Chairman of the Board IT Committee (BITC).

He is the Group Chief Financial Officer of Bestway Group with financial and strategic responsibility for all business units.

He joined the Bestway Group in 2012 and was elevated to the Board in 2018. Prior to his elevation to the Board, Haider held a number of roles within Bestway including Financial Controller and Head of Group Finance.

Haider is a member of the Board of Directors of Well Pharmacy and Bestway Wholesale in UK and of Bestway Cement Limited in Pakistan. He was appointed a Trustee of the Bestway Foundation in June 2021.

After having distinguished himself at the world-renowned Eton College, Haider read Economics at Gonville & Caius College, University of Cambridge. He also received his Masters in Economics from University of Cambridge. He is a member of the Vice Chancellor’s Circle at the University of Cambridge.

Haider is also a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and previously trained with KPMG UK LLP.

Haider is a Certified Director from the Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance (PICG).

Mr. Rizwan Pervez has been a Director of United Bank Limited since March 2014. He is a Member of the Board Audit Committee (BAC), the Board IT Committee (BITC) and the Board International Committee (BU). He is also Director of UBL Insurers Limited.

Rizwan graduated from the University of Pittsburgh, USA in 1990 with a BSc in Business Management.

He was trained with a leading UK firm of Chartered Accountants and qualified in August 1995. Rizwan is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales.

He joined Bestway as a Financial Accountant in 1995 and was elected to the 8oard of Directors in January 2000 as Group Business Development Director. He was responsible for developing the Group’s fascia and delivered business. Rizwan was instrumental in creating the "Best-One" symbol group and Bestway Direct, the Group’s delivered wholesale operation.

In 2006, Rizwan was appointed Operations Director where he led and managed the integration of Bestway and Batleys wholesale operations which created the UK’s largest independent wholesale group.

In 2012, Rizwan was appointed the Group Marketing & Director.

In 2019, Rizwan was appointed as Managing Director of MAP Trading Limited.

Rizwan has served as Governor of John Kelly Schools in North West London playing a leading role in the school’s attainment of academy’ status and establishing the school as a centre of excellence under its new name of The Crest Academy.

Rizwan is a Certified Director from the Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance (PICG).

Ms. Shazia Syed has been a Member of the Board of Directors of United Bank Limited since November 10, 2020. She is the Chairperson of Board Audit Committee (BAC). She is also Member of Board Human Resource Compensation Committee (HRCC) and Board International Committee (BIC).

Ms. Shazia Syed is responsible for Unilever’s North Africa cluster, based out of Cairo, which includes 12 emerging countries including Egypt and Morocco.

Prior to becoming General Manager North Africa, she was the global head of tea business and was on the board of Pukka Tea and Pepsi Lipton. She had been on the Board of Unilever Pakistan Limited as Chairperson & CEO as well as on the Board of Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited as CEO. She has a career spanning across 30 years in the FMCG sector and has worked in leadership roles in South East Asia, South Asia and Europe.

She was the erstwhile President of the Overseas Investor’s Chamber of Commerce & Industry and has also served as a Director for the Pakistan Business Council. In addition, Shazia also contributed her time on the Advisory Council at the British Asian Trust, Advisory Board of Change-Pakistan and as a Trustee at the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Foundation.

Shazia is an active advocate for Diversity & Inclusion at workplace, with a vision to enable and facilitate working women from all backgrounds across all sectors.

She is Certified Director from the Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance (PICG).

Mr. Tariq Rashid has been a Member of the Board of Directors of United Bank Limited since 25 May 2017. He is the Chairman of Board Human Resource Compensation Committee (HRCC). He is also Member of Board Audit Committee (BAC) and Board International Committee (BIC). He is also a Director of Bestway Cement Limited.

Mr. Tariq Rashid has more than 30 years’ experience in Management & Information Technology at senior levels. He spearheaded the setup of the IT infrastructure of mobile operator Mobilink (now Jazz) since inception. He led the IT organisation of Mobilink through different phases of Telecom industry’s life cycle

i.e. infancy, growth and consolidation and served as VP & Chief Strategy Officer for more than 5 years. He also served as a Director of Information Technology at HQ of Telecommunication company in Egypt. He successfully led few large business/technology transformation initiatives during his career.

He served as a Director on the Board of Mobilink Microfinance Bank and headed the Risk Committee. He served as Director on the Board of Mobile Number Portability Database (Guarantee) Limited. He also served as President on the Board of International School of Islamabad (ISOI) for more than 4 years.

He holds an engineering degree from the University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore and post graduate certificate in Computers from National Academy of Higher Education. He attended different management programs abroad and locally from institutes like IMD, INSEAD, MIT and LUMS.

He is a Certified Director from the Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance (PICG).

Mr. Muhammad Irfan A. Sheikh is a Member of the Board of Directors of United Bank Limited since July 2023. He is also a Member of the Board IT Committee (BITC), the Board Risk & Compliance Committee (BRCC) and the Board International Committee (BIC).

Mr. Sheikh is the Managing Director for Bestway Cement Limited, a company listed on PSX and Pakistan’s largest cement producer, and a number of other Bestway Group companies in Pakistan. Prior to assuming the role of the Managing Director, he headed the Finance, Information Technology, Legal, Marketing and Communication functions at Bestway Cement Limited.

After graduating from the prestigious Hailey College of Commerce, University of the Punjab, Lahore; he proceeded to the U.K. where he studied accountancy from Thames Valley University and the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants.

Mr. Sheikh trained with a Top-10 Accountancy and Business Advisory firm in the U.K. before he joined the Bestway Group in 1996. He has been instrumental in Bestway Cement Limited’s rise to the top and continues to play a vital role in Bestway Group’s various Pakistani companies’ growth and in maintaining the highest standards of discipline in all aspects of their business.

Mr. Sheikh is an ardent supporter of many social causes relating to education, health, women empowerment and arts & culture in Pakistan. He is a Trustee of Bestway Foundation, Pakistan and is also on the Board of Governors of the Foundations various projects.

He is a Certified Director from the Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance (PICG).

Mr. Daniel M. Howlett has been a Member of the Board of Director of United Bank Limited since April 2023. He is a Member of the Board IT Committee (BITC) and Board International Committee (BIC). He is also Chairman Board Risk & Compliance Committee (BRCC).

Mr. Daniel M. Howlett is a highly experienced and dynamic senior front-line international banker. He has extensive experience of dealing with Board level responsibilities across international commercial and corporate banking, including transaction banking, structured and capital financing, private equity, and real estate. He has extensive c-suite access, both in the UK and internationally.

He has a proven track record of growth in both financial and market share terms and as an innovator and change agent in sectoral, coverage and product capabilities.

He is an Independent Governor of the University of Plymouth, a Non-Executive Director of Falcon Group and a consultant advisor to the Business Growth Fund in the UK.

Prior to this, he had a 32 years’ executive career with HSBC, culminating in his role as Head of Commercial Banking for the Middle East North Africa and Turkey and, prior to that, the Head of HSBC’s Corporate Bank in the UK.

Daniel is a graduate from the University of Exeter.

Mr. Muhammad Jawaid Iqbal is the President & CEO of United Bank Limited since May 02, 2023.

Mr. Iqbal has over two decades of banking & capital market experience and has worked with Emirates Bank International PJSC Pakistan, National Bank of Pakistan and Allied Bank Limited at senior managerial positions.

Mr. Iqbal did his Master in Business Administration from Bahauddin Zakariya University, Pakistan; Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) from CFA Institute, USA; and Advanced Management Program from Harvard Business School, USA.