Parvez Ahmed becomes Mayor of Brent council

Cllr Parvez Ahmed has been officially appointed as the new Mayor of Brent for 2016/17 in a ceremony at Brent Civic Centre. The mayoral ceremony took place at the Grand Hall on 18^th May evening. He acted formerly as the Deputy Mayor of the borough.

He is the first person of Bangladeshi origin to be elected as Mayor of Brent. He is also a Councillor in Dollis Hill in the London Borough of Brent, having been elected in 2014.

A successful Businessman and community activist, in 2006, Cllr Ahmed received a community achievement award from Channel S in recognition for many years of hard work in the community. He completed his education in Bangladesh before moving to the UK. Since the age of twenty one, Cllr Ahmed established a number of businesses throughout Bangladesh. Most notably, Cllr Ahmed invested in the textiles and garment industry. He continued his focus in the textiles and garment industry after arriving in the UK where he also opened a restaurant. He has been closely involved with the Bangladesh Caterers Association where he has served as a Management Committee Member, Deputy Secretary General and Secretary General over the past twenty seven years. Cllr Ahmed is also the Chairman of New Generation 2000, and was formerly a Director at the North West London Chamber of Commerce. Cllr Ahmed also helped organise the inaugural education awards ceremony for the Bangladesh High Commission celebrating the achievement of young British Bangladeshis, which is now a celebrated annual event.

Cllr Ahmed is a loyal member of the Labour party, being an active fundraiser, participating in a number of committees, as well as being a local Councillor.  Over the last twenty seven years, he has been involved with many local and national organisations holding a range of posts including Board Member, Management Committee Member, Trustee and Chairman. These groups include the Tricycle Theatre and Cinema, Brent Safer Neighbourhood Team, Brent Minority and Ethnic Forum, Greater Sylhet Council UK, North West London Muslim Forum, Kilburn Partnership, Single Regeneration Board, Friends of Bangladesh UK, West Hampstead Bengali Association, 403 Harrow Road Limited, Bangladesh Centre (Notting Hill, London), Brent Bengali Community Centre and the Sylhet Sador Education Trust. He is also an advisor for the Bangla Post UK Newspaper and a Life Member of the London Bangla Press Club.

Cllr Ahmed has supported numerous mainstream national charities through donations and regular fundraising. In Bangladesh, he named a charity after himself (Parvez Ahmed Female Educational Trust) to encourage women to continue studying, in addition to supporting the APEX International and the Red Crescent project.  Furthermore, he is a Life Member of National Heart Foundation Hospital (Sylhet), Beanibazar Cancer Hospital, Red Crescent Bangladesh, IQra Academy Sylhet, Jalalabad Disabled Rehabilitation Centre and Hospital and Balangonj College.

Married for 30 years to former London Borough of Brent Councillor Lena Ahmed, the couple have been blessed with two sons. His elder son, married with a daughter, has completed a Masters in Biomedical research and is now working at the British Heart Foundation, whilst his younger son has completed a Law Degree, and is currently working in Local Government.