A scorching final day at Ascot on Friday (19) saw once again the hospitality of the UK’s largest privately-owned wholesale company, the Bestway Group, extended to hundreds of guests as it convened its 33rd annual Charity Race Day event.
This year ex-Prime Minister Lady Teresa May was present, and chairman of Bestway Group, the Lord Choudrey, paid fulsome tribute to her, remarking at the beginning of his traditional race day speech that Teresa May she had not only been the second female Prime Minister, “but also the only woman to have held two great offices of state.
"She has served the country for the past three decades and continues to do so with selfless devotion and dignity,” he said. “Thank you, Lady May, for your service to your country.”
In his welcome address Bestway Group Chairman, Lord Choudrey CBE SI Pk, highlighted the businesses performance. He said that during the last twelve months, Bestway’s group annual turnover had increased to £5.2 billion and Profit Before Tax had grown to £750 million.
Bestway Group serves over 12 million customers across the globe and provides employment to over 63,000 people.
The centrepiece of the lunch was Bestway’s charity partner for 2026 – WaterAid – and its Executive Director, International Programmes, Dr Amaka Godfrey, delivered a passionate speech to the receptive audience, describing the resource that is taken for granted by many, but is lacking for over 700 million people around the world, especially in Africa and Asia, with cascading ill-consequences, especially for girls and women, including educational deficits, drudgery and even abuse.
Lord Leigh of Hurley who has raised over £750,000 over the years spoke of his experience of working with Water Aid and how the charity’s life-changing work helps communities around the world gain access to clean water, decent sanitation and good hygiene.
WaterAid, Dr Godfrey told the assembled guests, works in 22 countries parched of fresh water, to alleviate their plight.
She was introduced by Lord Leigh of Hurley, a leading fund-raiser for the charity himself, who has already personally raised £750,00 by running each year the 10-mile half marathon in Maidenhead – which he said had “provided water for 25 remote schools and 50,000 children a year”.
Bestway’s corporate partner for the event was Scottish soft drinks giant AG Barr. Its CEO, Euan Sutherland, saluted the other suppliers who had supported and funded the event, saying that “While we compete day to day, we're also building something of consistency and quality in the UK. And I'm proud to be part of that with you.”
Gesturing toward the international situation, Sutherland said that, “We are now all suffering from worldwide crisis fatigue, years of consistent uncertainty and 2026 has been no different,” and that “This is a high-challenge, high-care environment,” where “As leaders, our job is to embrace these challenges, think beyond them, and work together to drive more creative and profitable solutions.”
He then addressed the conundrum that so much of the current political and military chaos is down to one person, and mused on a shared love of Scotland between AG Barr and the US President: “It puzzled me as to why we had such a strong connection with Scotland,” he said “When I asked, I was shocked to hear it's apparently because he models his skin tone on IRN BRU.”
Despite the global crises, Lord Choudrey revealed some cheering and optimistic figures, revealing that, “During the last 12 months, I'm pleased to report that our group annual turnover have decreased to £5.2 billion, and profit before tax has grown to £750 million.”
He said that Bestway is now the UK’s largest independent wholesaler and the second largest retail pharmacy chain, in addition to being the largest bank and largest cement manufacturer in Pakistan.
In an example of how business success is good not only for the businessman but for society as a whole, Lord Choudrey concluded, “We serve over 12 million customers around the globe and provide employment for over 60,000 people.
"We believe in giving back to the community through economic regeneration and employment creation. Over the years, through our Bestway Group Company and Charitable Trust, we have donated more than £50 million to charitable causes globally.”
And then, it was into the sunshine and off to the races.