One of the UK’s top 100 Asian business people, Chairman of the UK’s No. 1 water-based leisure attraction and The M.I.C Group. A former board member of The North Staffordshire Regeneration Partnership and West Midland Business Link.

Currently the Deputy Chair and Ambassador for Destination Staffordshire.
A double Honorary Graduate and the winner of The “Star of Pakistan” and award winning businessman and Philanthropist –Mo Chaudry was born in Pakistan in 1960 and moved to Luton, England with his parents in 1969.

Mo set up his first company in 1985, soon built up a personal fortune and was a millionaire by the age of 30. His net worth has been quoted in The 2010 Sunday Times and currently stands at £60m.

In 1999 he bought Stoke-on-Trent’s loss-making Water World theme park from Rank Leisure. In the last 10 years he and his team have transformed it into the UK’s most visited and profitable water-based leisure attraction.

Water World is now the biggest tourist attraction in the Stoke-on-Trent conurbation and amongst the top 4 in the Midlands.

Mo is ranked among

• the top 100 most successful business people in the Midlands;
• the Midlands’ top 10 Asian business people;
• the top 300 business people with property interests in the UK;
• the top 100 Asian business people in the UK;

And plays a significant role within the The Staffordshire business community.

As the Ambassador for Staffordshire Tourism, Mo works tirelessly to promote tourism in general and Staffordshire in particular.

Mo started in the financial services industry as an insurance canvasser in 1983. In the late 1980s he established his own group of financial services and property businesses.

Currently, he works in a non-executive capacity with a number of businesses in the Stoke-on-Trent area. He works as a Mentor for PM Training.

In 2009 he set up a unique pilot mentoring project with an inner City School to inspire young people by linking them with positive role models.
Mo has also worked with various charities, including:

• National Deaf Children’s Society (participated in a desert bike ride in the Middle East to raise funds);
• NSPCC: fundraising with friends John Caudwell and Phil (‘the Power’) Taylor;
• Hosting charity collection points at Water World for NDCS, NSPCC, Douglas Macmillan Hospice, Caudwell Children, Donna Louise Trust and others;
• Staffordshire Lions: annual event for disabled children hosted by Water World at a cost of £3k;
• Al Amir Foundation School in Pakistan – middle school for around 200 children: provided land for the school and financed start-up.
• Has recently set up an endowment fund for good causes with the Staffordshire Community Foundation. The largest private donation to date.

Unable to speak a word of English when he first came to England, and bullied at school, Mo coped with the culture shock by developing his fighting talents. His growing confidence and educational achievements gained him a place at grammar school (first Beech Hill High School, Luton; later Wellington Grammar School, Telford). But his over-confidence resulted in him leaving with just one O-level – in English literature.

The failure of his father’s business, his disappointment at his scholastic achievements, and daily encounters with racism spurred him on to reassess his ways. After gaining O- and A-levels, he moved in 1980 to Staffordshire, and took a degree in sports science at Staffordshire University, supporting himself by working as a doorman.

Mo’s natural sporting talents were put to the test at university. He won a silver medal in weightlifting at the 1982 Student Olympics and Bronze in 1983. Previously, while studying at New College (6th form) he had won caps for Warwickshire County Cricket Club (under 19s). Later, as a player for Shifnall CC, Telford, he won full Shropshire CCC caps. He also won plaudits for his martial arts and amateur boxing exploits.

Mo has enjoyed some memorable and extremely challenging adventure trips:

• Cycling through the Jordan desert in the footsteps of Lawrence of Arabia to raise funds for the National Deaf Children’s Society;
• Two-week adventure in the Sahara with the Bedouin;
• Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and the 3 Peaks in the Uk

He enjoys keeping fit, trains on a daily basis and hopes to undertake more adventure and extreme trips, time permitting.

Mo lives in Staffordshire.