The year 2020 has been a rollercoaster ride as the global COVID-19 pandemic disrupted daily activities, closure of establishments which restricted people from going to work that included those in tea estates across the world.

If there were ever a tea brand that captures so completely what it is, who it serves and why it succeeds on so many levels, it is London Tea Exchange.
For nearly over a decade, London Tea Exchange has evolved to own an enviable niche in the growing luxury tea market. But the deadly Covid-19 pandemic brought about a economical crisis.

Ironically, within a short span of time, Tea production in UK came to a grinding halt within months.
A simple process for London Tea Exchange in bringing tea to UK, abruptly emerged as an overnight major crisis.

With countries going in for complete lockdown, bringing high quality tea was no longer possible.

Hello Mumbai News UK Correspondent Kamal Prabhakar took the opportunity to interview with  Sheikh Aliur Rahman, Chief Executive, London Tea Exchange

to for an exclusive interaction how the company managed to serve tea to the globe elite amid the global Covid-19 pandemic.

Kamal Prabhakar : Sir, London Tea Exchange for the first time was facing a major tea production problem unlike any in its history, could you throw some light
into it?

Sheikh Aliur Rahman: Kamal, it was a major crisis. I had worked day and night to respond to the challenges faced by the company. But it got worse, UK also was going through the Brexit process and towards the end of summer 2020, news started to come in that the UK is likely to go out of Europe without a deal. Government departments started to advise companies to start planning for a potential No Brexit Deal!

Brief Introduction of Sheikh Aliur Rahman, Chief Executive – London Tea Exchange Sheikh Aliur Rahman is the Chief Executive of London Tea Exchange, one of the leading luxury tea merchants in Europe. Prior to joining the London Tea Exchange he worked for a private investment company in the City of London where he worked as an investment analyst. Aliur continues to act as an advisor to a number of high profile clients on investments and special interest projects. Recent projects include delivering three of the tallest residential towers in Europe.

Aliur has been at the forefront of working with large investment projects and has worked extensively amongst the private and public sector. Aliur currently holds various advisory roles at a regional and national level and remains active in international investment programmes. He
has been prominent in representing investment companies in many of the leading emerging countries and has been involved in major projects in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia.
Through his travels Aliur has developed a passion for tea. In 2003 Aliur focused his energy in taking over the London Tea Exchange and started the process of collecting rare and premium teas from around the world. Today, London Tea Exchange has one of the largest collections of rare and premium teas in the world and is renowned amongst tea connoisseurs and collectors from across the globe. Authentic to the core, yet loyal to a set of powerful values, the company
has evolved and carved an enviable niche in the global luxury tea market and has aims to expand into twenty countries by 2023.
As news of the London Tea Exchange spreads, Aliur dedication has not gone unnoticed. He has received numerous awards: In 2016 UKBCCI awarded London Tea Exchange with the Best Product Award’ and in 2017 Aliur was awarded ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’. The British
Bangladeshi Business Awards also recognised Aliur’s work and awarded him with the ‘Award for Innovation’ in the same year. In 2018 Aliur was awarded the Civic Award by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets for his contribution to business and local communities

News Edit by K.V.Raman