A former baggage handler who started his business empire with four derelict houses near Heathrow has been named as London’s newest billionaire hotelier.
Surinder Arora, 60, converted the homes into bed-and-breakfast accommodation for British Airways cabin crew in 1993.
Today he has a portfolio of 16 hotels with more than 6,000 rooms, mostly near Heathrow and Gatwick, and a family net worth of £1.129 billion, according to The 2019 Sunday Times Rich List which is published this weekend.
The Indian-born businessman, who is the seventh richest hotelier in the capital, shot up the rankings after a revaluation increased his fortune by £780 million. He came to London at 13 unable to speak English.
He worked as a baggage handler and a wine waiter at the Heathrow Pena hotel — now the Renaissance Hotel, part of the Arora group.
Mr Arora is vying for the contract to develop Heathrow’s third runway and sixth terminal and last week launched the first stage of consultations on the company’s proposals.
Robert Watts, compiler of The Sunday Times Rich List, said Mr Arora’s career was “one of this country’s most jaw-dropping rags-to-riches stories”.
The Rich List names Ritz owners Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay as the wealthiest hoteliers in London with a net worth of £8 billion.
