Ranjit Singh Boparan - From butcher's boy to billionaire

They call him the 'chicken king'. Ranjit Singh Boparan heads a business turning over £3 billion a year and supplying poultry to KFC, Sainsbury's and Tesco.

It is good going for a former butcher's shop boy from Bilston who left school at 16 with very few qualifications.

Mr Boparan and his wife Baljinder have a fortune of £1.3 billion, meaning they top the list of the richest Asians in the West Midlands.

Various profile pieces about him list the butcher's shop as being in Bilston. Which one, Mr Boparan has not said, although it is believed to one of the stalls on Bilston Indoor Market. It is understood he began working in the shop at the age of 11.

The 47-year-old champions the idea of a 'British' brand that everyone should work together to promote. But he does not do interviews with the media, but his business includes some household names including the fish and chip restaurant chain Harry Ramsden's as well as Northern Foods, the producer of Goodfella's and San Marco frozen pizzas and Fox's Biscuits.

He started the 2 Sisters group in West Bromwich in 1993 with a small loan.

Since then the business has grown, acquiring more and more others.

In the year to August 2009, 2 Sisters' sales increased 28 per cent to £649.4 million, with pre-tax profits up 33 per cent to £33.9 million, leaving a £12 million dividend for the family - an impressive feat during a recession. It is now recognised as the country's second largest food production company.

Northern Foods, which also makes Marks & Spencer ready meals, was added to his portfolio in 2011 having seen off a rival based in Dublin. No-one had been able to match Mr Boparan's £342 million cash offer.

With Asda and Morrisons also on the list of companies supplied by 2 Sisters it is no wonder that Mr Boparan has acquired the nickname 'chicken king'.

British Airways and Harrods are customers too. So there is a good chance that anyone who has ever eaten a chicken product in this country has had something from 2 Sisters.

Although profits soared during the recession, the business has not been immune from its ups and downs.

2 Sisters confirmed recently it would be shutting its Solway Foods site in Corby, where 930 people make chilled products such as salads and coleslaws.

Losses within Boparan Holdings, the parent company of which Mr and Mrs Boparan are the sole shareholders, almost doubled in a year to £27.5 million.

Sales were up, however, by 35 per cent to £848 million - boosted by the takeover of meat and chicken processing business Vion a year ago.

In a rare public appearance in February, Mr Boparan took part in a debate held by the National Farmers Union and talked about the importance of a British brand in promoting food produced in the UK.

He wants the country to behave more like New Zealand in trumpeting the quality of its meat.

"I think the British logo itself is a very, very strong brand, and, you know, we talk about different certifications," he said. "Actually, the strongest brand is British. The thing is we were struggling to focus with 60 million consumers. Actually, the British brand should be recognised by 7 billion consumers, and you have to start getting this brand and treating it like a brand rather than dissecting it and working in silos and everyone trying to promote it themselves.

"It's everybody's job. You know, if the consumer wants British, we will provide British and we will provide it in spades.

But you have to start thinking. We talk about New Zealand lamb today, but they have created a brand.

"Why can't we do the same with our British products? Create a brand and export it as well as consume it in the UK?"

And of course he would know about what people want and buy, having sold it to them day in and day out in the Black Country.

Former Wolverhampton mayor Bert Turner, a councillor in Bilston, says people remember Mr Boparan working at the market.

"He was on the big meat stall," he says. "He wasn't the owner but he started there working with two or three others."

The President of the Black Country Chamber of Commerce, Ninder Johal, says that Mr Boparan's story is an example of how anything is possible.

He says: "It is brilliant to have such a success story in the Black Country.

"It shows that from humble beginnings young people can aspire to get to the very top.

"We need entrepreneurs who will create wealth and jobs as well as money for the Treasury.

"This is an example for others to follow."

Mrs Boparan plays a major role with the Boparan Charitable Trust, which is based in Birmingham and raises money to help disabled and disadvantaged children throughout the UK.

Also on the board is the couple's son Antonio Singh Boparan.

The family was rocked in 2006 when a Range Rover Antonio, then aged 19, was driving crashed into a Jeep, leaving 11-month old Cerys Edwards with brain damage and in need of 24-hour care.

Ranjit and Baljinder Boparan pledged a substantial cash gift to Cerys's family and to set up a trust fund for her and other injured children.

The Trust wants to help wipe out child poverty, work with social services and professionals on programmes for disabled youngsters, help vulnerable children and improve education in deprived communities.

The Boparan family's fortune was revealed in this year's Midlands Asian Rich list.

The list names the 51 wealthiest Asian entrepreneurs across the Midlands. Also in the top 10 this year are brothers Parminder and Engrez Singh, from Wolverhampton.

They operate SEP Properties, a comercial property and consultancy business based near Lichfield. They are at number nine with a fortune of £71m.

Also in the top 10 was Lord Swraj Paul, founder of the Caparo Group and chancellor of the University of Wolverhampton, and his son Angad, who have a fortune of £750m.

Tony Deep Wouhra, of West Bromwich based East End Foods is listed at £85 million and property magnate Paul Bassi at £80m.