MBE for Peterborough charity boss in Queen’s Birthday Honours List

Zillur has been honoured for his services to the community in Peterborough during the Covid-19 pandemic.

He is a long standing Peterborough entrepreneur, who opened his first restaurant, Royal Spice, 20 years ago.

Zillur, 44, is a father of two and now owns Pearl Hotel and Tavan and a number of other businesses in the city.

All of Zillur’s charitable work has been under the banner of the Zi Foundation the organisation he set up six years ago.

As soon as the pandemic hit last year, the family-run charity delivered over 500 meals and hand sanitizer to some of the most vulnerable people in the city.

Shocked by the amount of people that were in need of food support, he helped to rally many other local businesses to recognise the need and to make sure vulnerable people in the city were looked after.

In less than three months, he delivered 13,000 free meals across Peterborough, also producing other food packages and making sure those people had access to sanitizing products.

Since then, he has gone on to continue offering free meals to other vulnerable groups such as the homeless and has handed out over 10,000 free facemasks across Peterborough and Huntingdon. Last Mother’s Day he gave away 1000 free meals to deserving mothers, nominated by their children, and the foundation also provided food support to a family who had been affected by a carbon monoxide leak in their home.

As well as leading the Zi Foundation, he is also the CEO of the Z Group, a network of his own restaurant and hotel businesses and professionals from a wide range of industries such as lawyers and accountants, who provide free advice on a wide range of issues people in the city need help with.

The Zi Foundation also helps people abroad. Zillur has overseen the building of three schools in Bangladesh, as well another in Nepal, each caters for around 300 pupils.

They also hold a wide range of charity events in Asia and have financed eye operations, and other medical procedures, for young children in the area, as well as giving them the best access to PPE and sanitizer to keep them safe from Covid-19. They have also financed expensive operations in need for people in Bulgaria and other European countries.

He said: “It’s a great honour to receive this MBE I wasn’t expecting it. I’ve just been working over the last six years to help people that need it.

“I’ve had a keen focus on children as I feel it is really important that they have access to opportunities that will help them in life and most importantly, an education.

“All of the great work has been done through the Zi Foundation, with the help of so many local people that have supported me.”